20 deals in 24 hours: India and Russia expand cooperation, including a new nuclear deal

© Reuters/Ahmad Masood

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi smile during the inauguration of World Diamond Conference in New Delhi December 11, 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India was described as success as over 20 documents were penned after painstaking preparations and as the two counties agreed to steadily expand cooperation on all sectors including trade, defense, and the controversial but highly propagandized nuclear sector.

Speaking to the press in India on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Indian - Russian relations are gradually developing in all sectors of cooperation. Putin's statement came after a meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Putin arrived in India on Thursday morning. Besides meeting Modi, Putin has also scheduled meetings with India's President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee and representatives of India's business community.

Before Putin's departure, the Russian presidency at the Kremlin informed the press that some 20 documents which have been prepared over a longer period are expected to be penned during Putin's visit. The Russian president is accompanied by other senior Russian government officials.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that Russia always has been a close friend of India and a privileged strategic partner.

On the agenda between the top officials of Russia and India are also issues pertaining the BRICS countries, matters pertaining the United Nations, as well as developments within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Both Russian and Indian media spend much of their coverage focusing on Modi's and Putin's attendance at the opening of the World Diamond Conference. Russia is one of the world's largest exporters or raw industrial diamonds and diamonds for the production of jewelry. India, for its part, is one of the world's leading nations in the cutting of precious stones.

Putin's visit began shortly after the Russian built Kudankulam nuclear power plant went on the grid. India and Russia agreed on the delivery of 12 Russian-build nuclear power plants for India by 2035 while as many as 24 may be on the table.

State and corporate funded Russian and Indian media, almost exclusively report in positive terms about the development while the existence of largely oppressed anti-nuclear energy lobby in India and Russia either is omitted or denigrated as "minority activists", brushing serious scientific arguments under the rug.

Also swept under the rug is that no electric power company, nuclear power plant (NPP) manufacturer or government, worldwide, accepts liability clauses pertaining damages to the environment and the people.

The Indian and Russian government's experts insist that lessons were learned from the still ongoing, 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. The Indian government describes criticism of the Kudankulam NPP and other NPPs in India as "unfair business practice" by competitors. Meanwhile, no nation has yet solved the issue of safely storing highly toxic waste for 100,000 years, as some of it requires.

, said Christof Lehmann over the phone on Friday morning, adding that .

Previous to Putin's visit, independent analyst and nsnbc editor-in-chief Christof Lehmann commented on this issue over the phone, saying:

© Unknown

China's trans-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines

Talks will also focus on a substantial increase of deliveries of Russian natural gas to India. The country is suffering from a lack of convergence in the energy-security interests of Myanmar, China, and Bangladesh which is to a large degree fueled by US/UK and western venture capitalist's interests in Myanmar's gas fields off the coast of Myanmar's Rakhine State.

In 2012, Lehmann wrote an extensive analysis of the issue which, as he notes, is also one of the root factors behind the provocation of so-called sectarian, inter-communal violence in Rakhine State. The analysis was published under the title Myanmar, Gas and the Soros-Funded Destruction of a Nation State".

Putin also commented on the development of stronger strategic and military ties between India and Russia, saying that this would also be expanded to the joint development of advanced weapons systems. In an interview with PTI, Putin commented on the issue saying:

Putin's visit to India is the sixth one in his capacity as President of the Russian Federation, reports Tass. Putin visited India once, in 2010, during his term as Prime Minister. Tass notes that Putin first visited India in 2000, when Russia and India agreed on holding annual bilateral summits and signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement.

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