NEW DELHI, India: The Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country’s cooperation with Pakistan in counter-terrorism will serve the long-term interests of all regional countries including India.
“[Regarding] Pakistan, we have held talks on Russia’s possible assistance aimed at improving the counter-terrorism and anti-drug operations. In my view, this kind of cooperation serves the long-term interests of all countries of the region, including India,” Putin said in an interview with The Hindu, an English-language Indian daily newspaper.
The Russian president said that the scope of the agreement signed last month, which was the first of its kind between Russia and Pakistan, is limited.
Putin brushed aside concerns that the cooperation would lead to a shift in India-Russia ties, or that India’s growing military closeness to the US was “transforming” bilateral ties.
“If some transformations take place, it would be a completely different kind of transformation. The high level of bilateral cooperation and trust allows us to start a gradual transition from the traditional producer-consumer model to joint development and production of advanced weapons systems,” Putin said.
The newspaper said that the reference was to the Brahmos missile developed jointly by India and Russia, as well as a fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
Putin reaches New Delhi to attend annual India-Russia summit
The Russian president reached India on Wednesday night to attend the 15th annual India-Russia summit, the first full-fledged summit between India and Russia after the Modi government took office in New Delhi.
Putin will hold meetings with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Thursday.
Delighted to welcome President Putin to India. Looking forward to a productive visit that will take India-Russia ties to newer heights: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 10, 2014
During Putin’s visit to India, both the countries would seek to outline a joint vision of their ties and also ink major agreements in the field of energy, defence and trade.
