Sergei Sobyanin said after his meetings in New Delhi that Russian-Indian relations had improved over the past two years. "Our intensified relations have allowed us to reach a new level of cooperation including culture, the defence industry, military technical cooperation, nuclear energy, science, pharmaceuticals and other areas.

Sergei Sobyanin believes Russian-Indian trade can reach $20 billion by 2015. Amid the world's general reduction in trade, Russia and India saw "an almost 8% increase in trade last year," Sergei Sobyanin stressed. "This is a unique result," he added. "It shows that Russia and India have excellent prospects in economic cooperation."

The Deputy Prime Minister said that cooperation in telecommunications, particularly on the GLONASS satellite system, was "steadily developing." He recalled the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Russia in December, 2009, when the two countries agreed to establish a joint venture in navigation equipment production. "We are currently working on signing this agreement which will promote cooperation on GLONASS and other navigation equipment."

Sergei Sobyanin went on to say that "an agreement had been drawn up on the peaceful use of nuclear energy" and expressed confidence that it would be signed during Vladimir Putin's visit to India in March, 2010. That would be "a framework agreement that would intensify cooperation in this sphere."

Sergei Sobyanin added that Moscow and New Delhi would sign a contract on the construction of the third and fourth power units at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in southern India built with Russian technology. He said developing nuclear energy was one of India's priorities. "Russia is ready to assist India in this issue," he concluded.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister attended the ceremonial opening of Defexpo 2010, the 6th International Land and Naval Defence Systems Exhibition held in New Delhi, and visited the Russian exposition which featured a wide range of military equipment.

Sergei Sobyanin spoke to Sivathanu Pillai, co-chair of the Russian-Indian BrahMos Aerospace joint venture, who briefed him on the enterprise's new developments.