The annual meeting of the defence ministers of India and Russia, slated for Thursday, has been deferred till October 10 due to inability of the visiting minister to reach New Delhi.
'It is time India calibrated a policy of what Indira Gandhi called equi-proximity rather than equi-distance between the US and Russia.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin held the 21st India-Russia summit, covering an array of areas with an aim to further enhance the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries.
"We foresee a very intensive engagement during the day that will culminate in the summit," the MEA spokesperson said.
Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday described India as a great power, a friendly nation and a time-tested friend and echoed common concerns over terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime as he held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the summit as well as in the inaugural '2+2' defence and foreign ministerial talks, the two sides are also expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan and the rising threat of terrorism including from groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
INS Vikramaditya is not the only thing on Defence Minister AK Anthony's agenda during his current visit to Moscow. Also on the anvil is the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft joint development project which, if finalised and signed, could emerge as India's largest joint defence programme costing around 11 billion dollars, reports Nandan Unnikrishnan.
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