M A I N   N E W S

Vajpayee, Putin hold talks
Tribune News Service and agencies

NEW DELHI, Oct 2 — Russian President Vladimir Putin tonight held informal talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee soon after his arrival here on a four-day state visit that is expected to take forward Indo-Russian relations to New heights.

Putin, the first Russian President to visit India in seven-and-a-half years, had private dinner meeting with Vajpayee at the Prime Minister’s official residence.

Leading a 70-member high-powered delegation which included Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, Mr Putin was warmly received at the Delhi airport by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh as he alighted from his il-96 special aircraft.

The Russian leader smiled and waved at a battery of media persons but did not take any questions as he stepped into a bullet proof limousine.

India and Russia will sign more than a dozen bilateral agreements tomorrow, including the Declaration on Strategic Partnership.

The Russian President and the Prime Minister will sign the agreement on strategic partnership and hold detailed discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and international issues.

Agreements related to defence and technical, science and technology, trade and commerce, culture, energy, agriculture and banking will be signed between India and Russia. The officials were engaged in giving final touches to bilateral agreements.

The official engagements of the Russian President, who was accorded an official reception at his arrival, would begin tomorrow with a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

From Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr Putin, accompanied by a large Russian delegation, will go to Rajghat for laying a wreath at the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. The Russian President will also plant a sapling there.

The Minister of External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, will call on the visiting President at Maurya Sheraton where Mr Putin is staying.

Mr Putin and Mr Vajpayee will hold one-to-one talks when the former calls on the latter at Hyderabad House which will be followed by delegation-level discussions.

All agreements will be signed at Hyderabad House where both Mr Putin and Mr Vajpayee will have a brief interaction with the media.

Mr Vajpayee is hosting a lunch in honour of the visiting President at Hotel Taj Palace.

After that the Russian President will proceed to Vigyan Bhavan where he will be conferred an honorary doctorate degree by Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Later in the evening, the Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant, will call on the Russian President at the Dwarka suite in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mr Putin in the company of his wife Mrs Lyudmila Putina will call on the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, and Mrs Usha Narayanan. Mr Narayanan will host a state banquet for Mr Putin.

The next day, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, will call on the Russian President at the hotel.

Before proceeding to Agra, the Russian President will address a joint session of Parliament. From Agra, the President will go to Mumbai where he would attend a business meeting with captains of industry from the FICCI and the CII on Thursday.

Mr Putin will have a meeting with the Maharashtra Governor, Mr P.C. Alexander, on Wednesday who will later host a dinner for the visiting dignitary. He will also visit Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay before leaving back for Moscow.