Russian President And Indian Premier To Discuss Fight Against Terrorism And Afghan Developments

During their meeting in the Kremlin on Tuesday the Russian President and the Indian Prime Minister will discuss measures for strengthening cooperation between Russia and India in combating international terrorism, RIA Novosti was told by deputy head of the Kremlin administration Sergei Prikhodko. According to him, Vladimir Putin and Atal Bihari Vajpayee will also speak about the creation of "a strong international legal basis" for combating terrorism, including the promotion in the United Nation of the draft Convention on the Fight Against Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which has been submitted by Russia, and the draft All-Embracing Convention on International Terrorism, proposed by India. According to the Kremlin, this meeting between the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of India "is especially significant because it will take place in a new situation that has arisen after the terrorist acts in the USA on September 11th and at the time of the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan." According to RIA Novosti, the situation in Afghanistan will be a separate theme at the Putin-Vajpayee negotiations. Russia and India, said the Kremlin spokesman, "agree that in the future the solution of the inner Afghan conflict is possible only through a political settlement under the aegis of the United Nations." Both Moscow and New Delhi come out for the formation in Afghanistan of "a truly representative poly-ethnic government which should not have Taliban as its members," Sergei Prikhodko told RIA Novosti. He noted that a bilateral working group on Afghanistan is an example of the efficient mechanism of Russian-Indian cooperation in this sphere.