Russia on Tuesday pledged to support India’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Moscow’s longstanding support of New Delhi’s bid for a greater role at the U.N. was restated in a joint agreement signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday.
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev is on a two day trip to India starting Tuesday. In the picture, Mr. Medvedev, left, shook hands with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a meeting in New Delhi, December 21, 2010.
Russia’s support for India to have a permanent Security Council seat was more unequivocal than that voiced by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a state visit last week.
Mr. Wen said only that Beijing understands India’s aspiration to play an enlarged role in the United Nations, including on the Security Council.
Russia is the fifth and final member of the Security Council to send its leader to India in 2010, a sign of New Delhi’s growing geopolitical and economic clout.
Russia and India agreed to cooperate in energy, trade and climate change, according to the joint statement. India wants greater participation in Russian oil and gas fields. They also plan to jointly develop nuclear and space research, it added.
Both nations also said the standoff with Iran in the United Nations over Tehran’s nuclear program should be solved via dialogue.
They also agreed that North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan should work more to stop heroin production and disrupt the drug trade.
A series of commercial agreements, involving Russian and Indian companies, will be signed separately.
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