Af-Pak situation to be discussed during Medvedev tour

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) The impact of situation in
Pakistan-Afghanistan region on the security of both India and
Russia will come up for discussions during Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev's talks with Indian leadership on Tuesday.
Stating this, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna
asserted, "We need to understand why terrorist infrastructure
in the region has continued to survive despite the best
efforts of the international community."
The Minister said the discussions (during the
presidential visit) on international issues will include the
situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region that impacts the
security of both India and Russia.
Both India and Russia share common concerns about the
threat posed by terrorism emanating from the shared
neighbourhood -- Afghanistan and Pakistan -- "radiating" into
the region, including Central Asia as also to Russia, he said.
"We are also aware of the nexus between drug trafficking
and terrorist financing. We have an ongoing multi-layered
dialogue mechanism with Russia through which we seek to
exchange views and information on these issues," Krishna said
in an interview to Russian news agencies.
Noting that in last ten years, there has been a
significant expansion, and deepening, in Indo-Russia bilateral
cooperation, he said "There is confidence on both sides that
neither country will seek to develop ties with third countries
at the expense of the other's vital interest."
Other issues on the agenda will include discussions on
expansion of the UNSC, in both permanent and non-permanent
categories, cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy,
science and technology and trade.
"We have an extensive programme of S&T cooperation in
place, which ensures continuous interaction and collaboration
among our scientific communities; a new Integrated Long Term
Technology Programme (ILTP) for cooperation in the field of
science and technology is likely to be signed at this Summit,"
he said.