Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on Dec. 3. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin began their annual summit talks here on Dec. 3 that Indian officials said would transform bilateral ties from a “declaratory to a pragmatic phase.”

Putin, accompanied by his wife Lyudmilla, and a 70-member high-power delegation consisting of senior ministers and businessmen, arrived here on a three-day visit that will also take him to Bangalore, hub of India’s IT and knowledge industry.

It was the fifth summit between the countries that call themselves “strategic partners,” held alternatively in their capitals, since the exercise was institutionalized during Putin’s visit to India in 2000, but the first summit since Manmohan Singh assumed office in May. The two sides were expected to issue a Joint Declaration and sign over a dozen agreements on cooperation in various fields, including in energy security, building and marketing of defense components to third countries and joint development of a navigational satellite system.

Putin was scheduled to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam later on Dec. 3 while External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh called on him before the talks with Manmohan Singh. Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani were scheduled to call on him. He was to inaugurate the premises of the BrahMos Joint Venture Complex here on Dec. 4 before leaving for Bangalore. BrahMos is the name of the cruise missile the two countries have jointly produced and plan to market in third countries.