Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will leave for Moscow tomorrow on a five-day visit of Russia and China. In Moscow, Dr. Singh will attend 14th Indo-Russian Summit. He will be attending the Bilateral Summit for tenth year in a row. Defence cooperation is blooming with Russia supplying India Submarines, Ships, Fighter Air Craft, and jointly developing a fifth generation Fighter.

Talking to media persons in New Delhi, the Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said both India and Russia are working out a techno-commercial agreement for the third and fourth reactors of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and India would also be seeking to tap Russia’s vast reserves of hydrocarbons for its energy requirements.

On the second leg of his visit, Dr. Singh will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday. This would be the first time that Prime Ministers of the two neighbouring countries travel to each other’s country in the same year. It is expected to cement the evolving strategic partnership between the two sides. Besides meetings with Chinese President, Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, Dr. Singh would also have the privilege to address Chinese Communist Party’s Central School, the higher education institution that trains officials for the ruling party.

Further deepening of economic cooperation with a special focus on correcting trade deficit and border defence cooperation agreement with China to set tighter ground rules for the armed forces along the Line of Actual Control are high on the agenda.