Saturday, March 12 2005 16:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: India and Russia have agreed to carry forward their bilateral Defence cooperation and make efforts to upgrade it, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said after his two-day Moscow talks.

"We discussed bilateral Defence cooperation and reached agreement that we should carry forward this cooperation," Saran told reporters before leaving for St Petersburg on the last leg of his three-day Russia visit.

In Moscow, Saran had wide-ranging talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and First Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loschinin on the whole gamut of bilateral, regional and international issues.

"Our relations are no longer of a client and vendor, but are of partnership. The BrahMos project is one such example and we have agreed to make efforts to upgrade them through more such projects," Saran said.

He recollected that during his India tour in December last, Russian President Vladimir Putin had visited BrahMos cruise missiles complex.

Energy cooperation was also one of the key bilateral issues discussed by Saran in Moscow.

"Russia has welcomed Indian investments in its energy projects and talks are proceeding. We have already announced desire for considerable investments," Saran said, adding Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has already twice visited Moscow to discuss India's energy security.