MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on September 4, the Russian President’s aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists.

"The official visit of the Prime Minister of India will take place on September 4, and then on September 5, Modi and our President will participate in the [EEF] plenary session and will attend a judo tournament," Ushakov said.

According to him, before the talks the two leaders will visit to the Zvezda shipbuilding complex. In the future, the ships built at that shipyard "will be used to deliver Russian oil and liquefied natural gas to world markets, including India," the official said.

The Zvezda shipyard is being set up on the base of the Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center by a consortium of Rosneft, Rosneftegaz and Gazprombank. The shipyard will produce heavy tonnage ships, offshore platform elements, ice-class vessels, special vessels, and other marine equipment.

According to the official, in Vladivostok, the Russian-Indian negotiations will be held both in tete-a-tete and expanded formats, Ushakov said. The talks will result in signing 25 documents on cooperation in various areas such as trade and investments, industry, military-technical cooperation, education and culture, he added.

In particular, Putin and Modi will adopt a joint statement entitled "Through trust and partnership - to new heights of cooperation," Ushakov said.

As the Kremlin representative noted, the two leaders maintain regular contacts, only this year they held two meetings - in June on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek and on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan.

"This year, probably, Modi and Putin will see each other again in November at the BRICS summit in Brazil," Ushakov said.

The official recalled that in 2018 the trade between the two countries grew by 17.3% to almost $11 bln. "This, of course, is far from the limit," the aide said.

 

EEF

The 5th EEF will be held in Vladivostok on September 4-6. Last year, the forum resulted in signing 220 agreements, contracts, memoranda and protocols for the total amount of more than 3.1 trillion rubles ($47.4 bln).