I / Moscow January 24, 2007Noting that Russian nuclear technology is internationally competitive, India today said it would like to expand its cooperation in the field as it has major plans to increase the share of nuclear power in its energy mix.Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India tomorrow, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Russian media that India-Russia strategic partnership is unique and has no other parallel of two giant nations maintaining steady and unbroken friendship over decades.The prime minister also talked about increasing the trade volume and transforming the nature of economic ties and expressed concern over religious extremism and terrorism in its neighbourhood.On the nuclear issue, the Prime Minister expressed India's interest in expanding nuclear cooperation with Russia, which is presently building two nuclear power plans in Kudankulam."Russian nuclear power technology is internationally competitive. Since we have major plans to increase the share of nuclear power in our energy mix, there are concrete opportunities for cooperation in this area. We would also like this cooperation to expand in years to come," he said.The Russian President is arriving here tomorrow for the seventh Indo-Russian summit during which nuclear cooperation between the two countries will be high on the agenda. A number of bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during the visit.
