India and Russia Sign 5 Pacts

India and Russia have inked 5 pacts after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Russia.

Agreements

An agreement on cultural exchanges for a period of two years (2017-2019) has been signed between the two nations.
An agreement for the construction of the third stage of the Kudankulam NPP (KK5 & KK6) along with the Credit Protocol has been signed between NPCIL and ROSATOM
An agreement between the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) and the Council of India on Scientific and Industrial Research has been signed to provide access to Rospatent experts to the Indian Digital Library of Traditional Knowledge (TKDL).
Contract between JSC (Russian Railways) and the Ministry of Railways on the preparation of the justification for the implementation of the high-speed service at the Nagpur-Secunderabad section has been signed.
Memorandum of cooperation between ALROSA Joint Stock Company and the Council for the Promotion of the Export of Precious Stones and Jewellery of India has been signed.

Others

India and Russia have decided to hold the first tri-Services exercises, named ‘Indra-2017’, this year. Both the countries have also decided to  begin joint manufacturing of frigates and co-production of Kamov-226 military helicopters. 
Of all the agreements, the agreement on setting up of Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu with the Russian help was a much-awaited agreement.
The reactors will be built by India’s Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia’s Atomstroyexport company, which is a subsidiary of Rosatom. Rosatom is the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. The two units will have a capacity to produce 1,000 MW of power. 
An ‘Action Plan’ has also been devised for speeding up the bilateral cooperation in all fields by the two countries.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2017