Article Posted on : - Sep 09, 2009

President Pratibha Patil. A File Photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Brushing aside reports that India is moving away from Russia, President Pratibha Patil has said New Delhi's ties with other countries would not be at the cost of Moscow.

New Delhi's ties with Moscow are on strong foundations and "would not be affected by our relationship with other countries," Patil, who returned last night after a seven-day visit to Russia and Tajikistan, told reporters.

"India really appreciated Russia's support in the economic, energy, defence and nuclear fields and that our relationship stood on its own," Patil said adding she conveyed this to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, with whom she had wide ranging discussions on further diversifying and strengthening the engagement by the two countries.

Patil, who also had a detailed discussion with her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, spoke in detail about the potential of cooperation, especially in energy sector.

"The two countries are in agreement that there is ample potential for expansion of cooperation in the fields of energy including hydrocarbons and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, military technical cooperation, space and information technology", she said.

Observing that the issue of bilateral trade came up for discussion on several occasions, Patil said both countries felt that the trade target of ten billion USD by 2010 appeared achievable despite the ongoing global financial crisis.