India and Russia on Tuesday signed a series of agreements related to the construction of future units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu state, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar, who is on a five-day visit to Russia and holding meetings with the country’s leadership, made the announcement during his address. He said:
Today, we signed some very important agreements pertaining to future units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (NPP).
The minister described Russia as a “special partner” in several areas such as defence, nuclear energy and space. He noted:
Collaborations are done in areas of defence, space and nuclear [energy] with countries with which you have a high degree of trust.
The Kudankulam nuclear power plant is being built in Tamil Nadu state with technical assistance from Russia. According to Jaishankar, the two countries have agreed that their negotiating teams will meet by the end of January to start face-to-face talks on a free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Zone.
