NEW DELHI, Dec 4: President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in India on Thursday for a visit expected to see Russia agree to build new nuclear reactors in the country and show solidarity with its ally after the Mumbai attacks.

A cornerstone of his trip to New Delhi is set to be the signing of a new accord for Russia to build four new nuclear reactors to generate energy in southern India.

Defence ties will also be discussed in the two-day visit, with Moscow keen to retain its position as India’s main supplier of weaponry amid increasing competition from the United States and Israel.

But the trip has been overshadowed by the Mumbai attacks. The Russian leader, whose visit was planned well before the bloodbath, is the first foreign head of state to visit the country after the bloodshed in Mumbai.

“The highest attention will be given to the question of the widest cooperation in the fight against terrorism, both on a bilateral level and with other powers,” the Interfax news agency quoted presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko as saying ahead of the talks.

Medvedev touched down in New Delhi in the evening where he had dinner with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before a full programme of high-level talks on Friday, officials said.

The main streets of central Delhi have been festooned with Russian flags to welcome Medvedev but the visit is taking place under the tightest security with a visible police presence.

The two sides are expected on Friday to ink a deal for Russia to build four more nuclear reactors in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in the latest sign of burgeoning ties.

Moscow is already building two 1,000-megawatt light water nuclear reactors at Kudankulam and can now construct more after a group of nuclear supplier states in September lifted a ban on India shopping for nuclear technology.

Energy-hungry India has signed nuclear cooperation pacts with France and the United States since the ban was lifted but Russia until now has been the only foreign state in the Indian nuclear industry.

“We think that during my visit this area will make its biggest progress yet,” Medvedev said in an interview with Indian state television channel Doordarshan, a transcript of which was released by the Kremlin.

He is also set to sign a range of bilateral accords on cooperation in areas including space exploration, financial markets and tourism, Prikhodko said.—AFP