Naidu Invites Russian PM To Visit Amaravathi

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is on a Russia visit, invited Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to visit Amaravathi.

Naidu, during his meeting with the Russian Prime Minister, said that India and Russia were natural and traditional friends, who had stood by each other for decades.

"Both our countries have strong leadership now which is making a lot of difference to both the countries," said the CM.

He also observed that Russia had strong roots in manufacturing, technology and natural resources, and said that AP was a leader in innovation and IT, and in adapting the best practices from across the globe, and mentioned that the State had an important naval base in Visakhapatnam.

Giving a call to Russian firms to make AP their investment destination, the Chief Minister said his State offered a lot of opportunities in the greenfield capital Amaravathi. He listed the possible areas of strong Russian participation in AP as aerospace, defence, oil, inland waterways and nuclear energy.

Russian Prime Minister remarked that today's meeting with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan was historic. "It signals that Russia is not Moscow and India is not Delhi. We will initiate cooperation between our provinces and your States," the Russian PM said.

Medvedev agreed in principle to Naidu's suggestions and asked Trade Minister Denis Valentinovich Manturov to work out the details. Naidu also asked the Russian Prime Minister to initiate some projects and initiatives before President Vladimir Putin's visit to India. Medvedev asked Manturov to pursue that, too.

In his concluding remarks, Naidu invited Russian participation in Amaravathi's construction, too, and said he was willing to have a Russian industrial cluster.