India and Russia will sign several far-reaching agreements during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Moscow in December. These include agreements on defence Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), utilisation of rupee-debt, agreement on Russias accession to WTO, relaxation of visa regime, agreement on prevention of trafficking of drugs and narcotics substances and understanding on setting up of a joint study group to strengthen trade and economic cooperation.

Defence cooperation between the two countries was put on hold as Moscow insisted on India signing an IPR after Indias military ties with the US started growing over the past two years.

According to Kawal Sibal, Indias ambassador to Russia, Both sides have to work very hard to make it to the signing table, adding that even if all these agreements were not ready for signature, discussions during the interregnum would cover substantial areas to narrow down the differences.

India favours joint development, manufacturing and marketing of high tech defence equipment, as in the case of Brahmos missiles, said officials.

Indo-Russian economic relations have undergone tremendous transformation. The economic reforms have obviously enhanced the role of the business sector in this relationship, they pointed out.