IANS/Moscow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow yesterday on a two-day visit during which he will attend the 16th India-Russia annual summit.
After alighting from the aircraft, he was welcomed with a ceremonial guard of honour at the airport.
During the visit, a raft of agreements spanning a broad spectrum of sectors are expected to be signed following summit-level talks today between the two countries with trade being a major focus area.
Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet a delegation of Indian and Russian CEOs in the Kremlin.
Modi will address a gathering of Friends of India and also meet members of the Indian community in Russia.
The prime minister’s itinerary includes a visit to Russia’s National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in Moscow today.
The NCMC is a multi-level co-ordination centre designed to provide inter-agency co-ordination and alert the people about the threat of emergency situations. The capabilities of the NCMC include state-of-art real time monitoring, data collection, analysis and modelling.
In a pre-departure statement, Modi said he was very optimistic about the visit.
“Today I will commence my visit to Russia, my first bilateral visit after we formed the government. I am very optimistic about the outcome of this visit,” Modi said in the statement.
“History is witness to the close ties India and Russia have had over the decades. Russia remains one of India’s most valued friends in the world,” he stated.