MOSCOW, May 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian-Indian relations will successfully develop under the newly elected Indian government, Russian experts said during a video conference Moscow-New Delhi on the results of the parliamentary election.
“Despite the apparent differences, Russia and India have much in common,” said Gleb Ivashentsev, an expert of the Russian International Affairs Council. “Besides, both countries have much to achieve in terms of economic development,” he added. Cooperation had recently been active in high tech, nuclear energy and space, he added.
Ivashentsev also noted the countries’ investment partnership as India made the largest investments in Russia’s Far East, in particular a more than $8 billion investment into the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project. India is also keen to partake in the development of coal fields in the Republic of Yakutia.
Any sharp changes in India’s foreign policy are hardly to be expected, believes the head of the Asian section of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Boris Volkhonsky. India is expected to place an even greater emphasis on regional issues, primarily Afghanistan and Asian Pacific, in particular, Japan and Vietnam. Emergence of a new strong player in the Asia Pacific benefits Russia, the expert believes.