Russia could convince Pak to stop anti-India terror: PM

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has said Russia as a "great power" could convince Pakistan not to use terror against India as an instrument of state policy, observing that country's conduct ran counter to a policy of "good neighbourliness."

Ahead of this three-day official visit to Russia starting Sunday, Singh without naming Pakistan said that India faced an "onset" of terrorism aided, inspired and instigated by that country.

"We believe that Russia being a great power can influence the conduct of Pakistan. Our hope is that Russia's influence will be utilised to convince Pakistan that the strategy of using terror as an instrument of state policy is counter-productive, " Singh said in an interview to the Russian media on the eve of his visit.

Singh, who will be in Russia on his sixth visit as prime minister since he assumed office in 2004. said, "We face in the sub-continent the onset of terrorism aided, inspired and instigated by our neighbour."

On India's part, Singh said that if Pakistan territory ceases to be used by terrorists India saw immense opportunities for the two countries to work together in cooperation.

"There are immense opportunities of expanding trade, investment and technology flow between our two countries." he said.

In the wide-ranging interview before summit talks with president Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin as well as meeting premier Vladimir Putin on Monday, Singh covered issues relating to cooperation in defence, civil nuclear energy, space and trade.

Singh said Russia and India can work together to devise effective counter-terror strategies through coordinating our intelligence and information system.

"We can help each other because Russia like India has also been the victim of terrorism," Singh said.

Singh also sought to allay concerns here over growing Indo-US ties saying India's engagement with rest of the world will not be at the expense of "time-tested" relationship with Russia, with defence and nuclear energy being "key pillars" of bilateral cooperation.

The prime minister said India, like Russia, has sought to respond to the changes in  the international system through different ways, including by broadening their engagement with the rest of the world.

"We are however clear that our growing engagement with the rest of the world cannot be at the cost of our time tested ties with Russia," Singh said allaying concerns expressed in Moscow over New Delhi's growing bonhomie with Washington.

Singh's visit to Moscow comes two weeks after US president Barack Obama hosted his administration's first state dinner to honour the Indian prime minister. 

He noted that relations with Russia enjoy a strong national consensus in India. "The people of India can never forget the help and support we have received from Russia in difficult moments of our history," Singh said.

"During my visit to Russia I propose to discuss with President (Dmitry) Medvedev the steps we can take to raise our strategic partnership to the next level," Singh said.