Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh arrived in Moscow this evening on the first leg of his visit to Russia and China.

Earlier in his departure statement in New Delhi, Dr. Singh said his visit to Russia and China will create new strategic opportunities for the country's growth, prosperity and development in a stable and external environment.

Dr. Manmohan Singh said the annual summit with Russia is an important feature of special and privileged strategic partnership between both the countries. He said the scope for India's relations with Russia is unique, encompassing, strong and growing cooperation in areas including defence, nuclear energy, science and technology, hydro-carbons, trade, investment and people to people exchanges.

He said India and Russia have also had a convergence of views on global and regional issues and India values Russia's perspective on international developments of mutual interest.

AIR correspondent covering the prime minister's visit reports that both India and Russia are working out a techno-commercial agreement for the third and fourth reactors of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant .

In the 2nd leg of his two nation tour, the Prime Minister will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday on a three-day official visit. Dr. Singh said his visit to Beijing will afford him the opportunity to continue the discussions with the new leadership of China.

He said both the countries have reached important consensus on maintaining peace and tranquility on the border and made preliminary progress towards settlement of the India-China boundary question.

He said peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations between India and China have provided conditions for both the countries and the wider region to grow with stability.