India-Russia Relations Relations with Russia are a key pillar of India's foreign policy and Russia has been a longstanding time-tested partner of India. Since the signing of “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000 (during the visit of President Vladimir Putin to India), India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship including political, security, trade and economy, defense, science and technology and culture. Under the Strategic Partnership, several institutionalized dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow up on cooperation activities. During the visit of Russian President to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”. Political Relations: Annual Summit meeting between the Prime Minister of India and the President of the Russian Federation is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism under the Strategic Partnership between India and the Russian Federation. So far 14th Annual Summit meetings have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last (14th) Annual Summit was held in Moscow on 21 October 2013 when PM Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Moscow and had a meeting with President Putin. A Joint Statement “Deepening the Strategic Partnership for Global Peace and Stability” was adopted during the Summit. Bilateral agreements concluded during the Summit included a Treaty on sentenced persons; MoUs on standardisation and on energy efficiency; and Programmes of Cooperation in science & technology and in biotechnology. PM Dr. Manmohan Singh also visited St. Petersburg on 4-7 September for participating in the G-20 Summit and met President Putin on the on the sidelines of the 5th BRICS