New Delhi, December 21
With differences still persisting between the two countries over the future of their civil nuclear energy cooperation, an agreement on Russia constructing units III and IV of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) is unlikely to be signed during President Vladimir Putin’s coming visit to India.

“I don’t think the agreement on units III and IV will be signed because we are still negotiating it but there will be more than a dozen documents which would be concluded covering the entire gamut of relations, including military cooperation,” Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin told reporters ahead of Putin’s visit for the India-Russia annual summit on Monday.

It is understood that the two countries could ink deals on the sale of fighter jets and aircraft engines to India next week which could be worth some $ 7 billion. Putin is believed to have his sights on selling 42 Sukhoi SU-30MKI fighters and on the long-term supply of 970 warplane engines. Asked about the hitch in inking the agreement for the KNPP III and IV units, the Russian envoy said Moscow believed that the pact should be under the terms and reference of the 2008 accord while India was insisting on negotiations under its new civil nuclear liability law. He was confident that the differences would be resolved and the agreement would be signed sooner rather than later.

He also indicated that the two countries had not found a solution to Russian telecom giant Sistema’s over $ 3 billion investment in India. The issue has been hanging fire ever since the Supreme Court passed an order in February cancelling all 122 licences (including that of Sistema Shyam Teleservices) following allegations of bribery and corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum. Sistema has challenged the court order and wants the Indian government to find an alternative solution to avoid international arbitration.

Kadakin wondered why India could not protect the investment made by Sistema, particularly since the two countries have a bilateral investment promotion agreement between them.

Asked if Russia was looking at an improved relationship with Islamabad, he said Pakistan was an important country for Russia, particularly in the post 2014 phase after the drawdown of foreign troops from Afghanistan. “However, we shall never supply anything to anyone which can be detrimental to India.”