The strong ties between India and Russia date back to the 1950s after the death of Stalin. But trade has slipped from just $10 billion in 2014, which both sides have said is not good enough..Russia’s biggest oil company Rosneft is expected to acquire India’s Essar Oil in a multi-billion-dollar deal, according to local media reports, quoting officials involved in the agreement.India said it subsequently carried out strikes against militants over the border in Pakistan, prompting a furious response from Islamabad.Putin is seeking to seal deals with India in an attempt to help revive Russia’s recession-hit economy, following sliding oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.But India has increasingly turned to the United States, rather than Russia for its hardware in recent years, as Modi cultivates closer ties with the Washington.
The leaders are also expected to sign a framework agreement to supply two more reactors to a nuclear plant in Kudankulam in southern India. BRICS was formed in 2011 with the aim of using its growing economic and political influence to challenge Western hegemony.Benaulim: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to sign lucrative energy and defence deals Saturday, aimed at shoring up economic ties between the long-time allies.India, the world’s top defence importer, is undergoing a $100-billion upgrade of its Soviet-era military, as it looks to protect its borders from arch-rival Pakistan and an increasingly assertive China.Modi will also hold talks with China’s President Xi Jinping late Saturday, in the hope of boosting investment and trade, but with relations frustrated by Beijing’s decision so far to block New Delhi’s entry to a nuclear trade group, among other issues.But Putin is seen as unlikely to weigh into the dispute between the rivals, as Moscow also eyes closer defence ties with Islamabad.The leaders are also focusing on energy deals to meet India’s growing thirst for fuel and electricity for its fast-growing economy.Modi has sought to isolate Pakistan internationally since the attack that India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.Saran said they would also likely discuss India’s tensions with neighbour Pakistan, which spiked after last month’s attack on an Indian army base that killed 19 soldiers.Other heads of the BRICS club of leading emerging nations — Brazil, China and South Africa — were also gathering for this weekend’s summit that is expected to focus on trade and counter-terrorism. Russia and China Swing Door Openers manufacturers Pakistan carried out their first joint military exercise last month.The S-400 is Russia’s most modern air defence system and has been deployed to Syria, where Moscow is conducting a bombing campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad.Putin is seeking to seal deals with India in an attempt to help revive Russia’s recession-hit economy
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