Indian Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi met with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday for talks on bilateral trade and cooperation. During their three-hour meeting at Putin's seaside summer residence at the Konstantin Palace, Gandhi also discussed with Putin greater cultural cooperation between the two Cold War allies, according to Russian news reports. She is the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Russian-Indian relations are "developing in the best possible way," Putin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Indian President Abdul Kalam visited Moscow last month and Putin visited India in December amid Russian efforts to revive once-robust commercial relations. Bilateral trade, excluding military purchases, fell to US$1.7 billion (¤1.4 billion) in the year ending March 2004, down from US$2.1 billion in 1996. India is a major buyer of Russian military hardware.
