Beijing: Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visits to China and India would cement Moscow's strategic relationships with both Beijing and New Delhi and would rekindle interest in the much-talked about 'triangular' ties among them, diplomatic sources and analysts here said.

"Putin's visit is a major event in Sino-Russian and Indo-Russian bilateral ties since both China and India have established strategic relationships with Russia," professor Ma Jiali from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a major think-tank for the Chinese government, said.

Ma said Putin's visit would provide the much-required impetus for enhancing the scope and range of trilateral co-operation between China, India and Russia, which already exists at the level of scholars.

Diplomatic sources said that Putin's visit to Beijing and New Delhi comes after the foreign ministers of the three countries met for the first time in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

The three foreign ministers during their informal meeting in September had exchanged views on the questions being examined by the United Nations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

"We believe that this meeting is conducive to better mutual understanding and confidence," the spokesman said.

Ma and other sources said that Putin's visit will enable the leaderships of the three countries to discuss pressing international and regional issues of common concern, including fight against terrorism and strengthening the role of UN Security Council and work out a joint strategy to co-ordinate their moves at the United Nations.

Chinese experts, while being confident of making steady progress in trilateral relations, firmly believe that the three influential Asian powers have a major role to play in ensuring the emergence of a multi-polar world and the establishment of a new world political and economic order.

Suggesting that the three countries could enlarge the scope of trilateral co- operation in fields like trade and economy, Ma said China and India could co-operate in the exploration of oil and gas deposits in Russia's far East.

The Chinese scholars also appreciated the multi-faceted relationship between Russia and India, which they say was not targeted at any third country but was beneficial for maintenance of regional peace and stability.

Putin would arrive in Beijing late on December 1 for a state visit and will hold official talks with Chinese president Jiang Zemin on December 2.

"The two heads of state will use the opportunity to have an overall review of the development of bilateral ties over the past decade. They will also make strategic plans for the future development of the relations," Liu said.

Putin will also hold separate meetings with Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, the new general secretary of China's ruling Communist Party and also the vice-president of China, Hu Jintao, and top legislator Li Peng.

The Russian President would travel to India for talks with the Indian leadership on December 3.