India and Russia are expected to ink a raft of pacts to further boost cooperation in key areas of defence, trade and investment, energy and technology at the summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, PM Modi and President Putin will begin the summit talks at 5:30 pm and the Russian leader will emplane from Delhi at 9:30 pm.
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Ahead of the summit, India has cleared the long-pending AK 203 Kalashnikov rifles to deal worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for production of over five lakh AK-203 assault rifles at Korwa in Amethi by an Indo-Russian joint venture.
It is learnt that the joint statement to be issued after the summit is likely to reflect India's concerns over cross-border terrorism and the security implications arising out of the Afghan crisis.
While Putin is arriving today on a day-long visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu reached Sunday night.
The two sides are also likely to wrap up the final phase of negotiations for a logistics support agreement, which is likely to be signed either during the two-plus-two talks or at the summit.
In reflection of their time-tested defence ties, India and Russia are also set to renew for the next decade a framework for military-technical cooperation at the summit besides announcing a joint commission on technology and science.
The two sides may also firm up a number of defence procurement proposals besides deliberating on the long-pending project for joint production of 200 twin-engine Kamov-226T light helicopters for Indian armed forces.