Moscow: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is headed back from a very short trip to Moscow.
Earlier on Monday he had said that efforts were on for a consensus on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
At a state banquet, the PM also said that India seeks an all-round expansion of ties with Russia, covering diverse fields such as economy, energy security, defence and counter-terrorism.
''We have achieved much together, but we can and will do even better,'' the Prime Minister said, noting that the strategic partnership with Russia was ''critical'' to India's objectives of achieving a ''socially inclusive'' growth and playing its role as a ''factor of peace and stability'' on the world stage.
Though a crucial pact on setting up four nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu remained elusive, four agreements have been signed with Russia, one being the joint development of a medium transport aircraft and using $1 billion Indian debt for the aircraft project.
Removing a long-pending irritant, the two nations agreed to utilise the rupee debt fund – a legacy of the Soviet era relations, totalling $1 billion – and signed an accord for development and production of a multi-role transport aircraft to replace the aging AN-32 fleet of the Indian Air Force.
The total investment for the project will be $600 million to be shared on 50:50 basis by both the countries. However, there was nothing on any agreement to lease two Akula class nuclear submarines.
The other two agreements related to cooperation in the field of Joint Exploration of Moon and in combating Illicit trafficking in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances.
The Prime Minister also held consultations with President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Zubkov.
In his talks with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Manmohan Singh said that bilateral trade, which had grown 27 per cent to reach $4 billion in 2006, would require active co-operation in the banking sector.
To that end, Russia's state-owned Vneshtorgbank had been authorised to open a branch in India, he added.
This was the PM’s fourth visit to Russia and one one of the shortest visits by an Indian Prime Minister to Russia, lasting around 28 hours.
With inputs from PTI and UNI
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