Vajpayee, Putin to hold summit in November

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold their next summit in Moscow in November.

"Russia has a special place in India's foreign policy and we intend to further strengthen the time-tested relations between our two countries," Indian Ambassador to Russia Krishnan Raghunath was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS.

During Putin's first India visit in October 2000, he and Vajpayee had agreed to hold annual summits.

Since then Indo-Russian summits were held in November 2001 and December 2002 in Moscow and New Delhi, respectively.

"Both India and Russia are facing the problem of international terrorism, extremism and ethnic separatism. This is the main cause of proximity in the stands of the two nations on issues of national and international policy and security, including the North Korean nuclear issue," Raghunath said.

"India attaches great importance to interaction with Russia in the fields of information technology, atomic energy, knowledge-based production and defence," he said.