~I thank you Mr. President for your kind words of welcome. My delegation and I deeply appreciate the warmth and generosity of our Russian hosts.

It is an immense pleasure to be here again in this capital city of Russia.

I cherish the memories of my earlier visits to Russia, including the most recent one to St Petersburg for its historic 300^th anniversary celebrations.

Today we had our 4^th meeting in the past 12 months. This reflects the vibrancy of the India-Russia strategic partnership.

Our close relationship originated in a different global era, whose unique strategic assumptions were based on equations of the Cold War. Emergence from the Cold War prompted different kinds of political adjustments and economic transformations in both our countries.

Through these turbulent events, there was an almost seamless continuity in the India-Russia partnership. This is an eloquent testimony to the bonds of geography, history, tradition and culture, which invest our relationship with a unique enduring quality.

Today, our shared commitment to democracy, pluralism and multilateralism is another important dimension of our bilateral relationship and global responsibilities.

In our meetings today, we have agreed on the contours of future development of the traditional sectors of our cooperation.

These include military technical cooperation, space, nuclear energy, science & technology, among others. We have reinforced our decisions with bilateral documents, which commit our two sides to concrete time-bound actions.

We have also agreed that we will give our links in trade and investment a more contemporary focus. As two large and modernising economies, India and Russia have complementary interests in the emerging global economic order. We should maximize the mutual benefit from our industrial and technological synergies.

India’s investment in the Sakhalin oilfield and Russia’s assistance for our Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant herald significant breakthroughs in our energy cooperation.

We can diversify into midstream and downstream projects in all segments of the energy sector.

We have other new opportunities in information and communication technologies, biotechnology, electronics, banking and financial services. Our energetic pursuit of these opportunities will secure the economic underpinning to our political understanding, strategic convergences and defence cooperation.

You have personally taken the initiative at various international forums to focus the world’s attention on new global challenges and threats and to seek cooperative ways to tackle them. We are with you in this endeavour.

India and Russia have collaborated closely in recent years for peace, security, democracy and tolerance in our common neighbourhood. This work is still unfinished.

We share your perspectives about countering terrorism with a firm conviction and joint determination. We have to break the nexus between terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and drug trafficking.

We agree on the need to restore credible multilateralism in the conduct of inter-State relations. The United Nations needs to salvage its prestige to again become a forum for genuine consensus building and collective decision-making. Its structures need to be reformed and renovated.

These are not easy challenges. They require painstaking effort, resilience and courage. These are qualities which both Russia and India have displayed in abundant measure in their nation-building efforts.

As your legendary author, Fyodor Tyutchev, wrote:

~I love thundershowers in the spring….

All things echo thunder’s heavenly joy!~

India and Russia need this indomitable spirit of cheerful determination in their joint efforts to tackle the modern-day challenges to global peace and security.

I invite you to join me in a toast to:

• The health and happiness of His Excellency President Putin;
         
• The further prosperity and progress of the Russian people; and

• The strength and vitality of the strategic partnership between India and Russia.~