India, Russia to cooperate on hydrocarbons

New Delhi, Mar 13 : India and Russia have agreed to collaborate more on oil and gas besides nuclear energy, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart on Friday.

"We have agreed to strengthen our cooperation in hydrocarbons through greater collaboration between our oil and gas companies," Singh said after his meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"We have signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Cooperation in Atomic Energy and agreed upon a Roadmap for construction of nuclear power plants. A Memorandum of Understanding for bilateral cooperation in Russia's satellite navigation system has been agreed upon.

"Agreements have been signed in the areas of fertilisers and pharmaceuticals. We have identified information technology and telecommunications as focus areas for our future economic cooperation," said Singh.

Singh said he had a very comprehensive and indepth discussions on bilateral, regional and global matters with Putin.

Terming relations with Russia as a key pillar of Indian foreign policy, Singh said "we regard Russia as a trusted and reliable strategic partner".

"Ours is a relationship that not only stands independent of any other, but whose significance has grown over time. Our partnership covers areas such as defence, civil nuclear energy, space, science and technology, hydrocarbons and trade and investment," he said.

The PM said in the run-up to, and during Prime Minister Putin's visit, India has finalised several important and long pending defence cooperation projects which will deepen longstanding partnership in this sector.

Singh said the outcomes of Prime Minister Putin's visit are rich and very substantive.

"We had a detailed discussion on regional and global issues. There is much that India and Russia can do together to advance global peace and stability and the process of global economic revival. We have agreed to intensify our consultations on Afghanistan and the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism in our region."

Earlier on Friday, Putin asserted that his country will not enter into any defence deal with Pakistan " because of our Indian friends' concerns".

He was on a day-long visit to India and held discussions with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, besides calling on other top leaders.