Russia Prez lauds all-weather strategic partnership with India

Moscow, Sep 3 (PTI) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Thursday lauded the all-weather strategic partnership with
India and said the bilateral ties are not affected by the
change in political seasons as he hosted his counterpart
Pratibha Patil at the Kremlin here.

"Your visit demonstrates special strategic relations of
partnership between Russia and India, which are not prone to
conjuncture and change of political seasons," Medvedev said at
the start of the delegation-level talks with Patil, who is
here on a four-day state visit.

Medvedev also noted the importance of the Indo-Russian
dialogue within the BRIC and other international formats.

He expressed satisfaction at the pace the bilateral trade
and economic cooperation have started to develop in recent
years.

According to Russia's Economic Development Ministry, the
Indo-Russian trade could grow by 20 per cent in 2009 to over 8
billion dollars, increasing the chances of achieving the USD
10 billion target by 2010, set by the top political leadership
of the two countries, in spite of the global economic
downturn.

Patil arrived here Wednesday on her maiden state visit of
Russia, during which she is also scheduled to hold parleys
with Russian strongman, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, on a
whole range of bilateral issues, including defence, space and
nuclear energy cooperation. PTI