Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) greets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their meeting in Moscow on Monday. (AFP)

Moscow, Nov. 12: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Vladimir Putin today decided to defer an agreement on the sale of four additional nuclear reactors to India until the Indo-US nuclear deal was at least cleared by the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The Prime Minister, speaking after a two-hour meeting at the Kremlin, described an inter-governmental agreement on the sale of the reactors for the Kudankulam unit as a “work in progress’’.

Putin, who has recently been asserting Russia’s role in international affairs, in answer to the same question said: “Russia is a reliable partner. India knows that. We had discussions (on the nuclear issue) today.”

Three agreements were signed at the Kremlin before the two leaders’ news conference. The first was on the rupee-rouble debt (from the Soviet Union years) amounting to Rs 4,600 crore. This money will be invested in India.

The second related to the production of multi-role transport aircraft, while the third was a pact on co-operation in countering the threat from narcotics and psychotropic substances.

At the end of the summit, rounded off by a banquet lunch where old Hindi film songs like Mera joota hai japaani and Zindagi ek safar hai suhana were played live by the Kremlin band, it seemed both India and Russia had agreed to uphold the sanctity of the Indo-US nuclear deal, although for different reasons.

According to sources present at the talks, the Russian side said it would not be able to sign such an agreement until the Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which the country is a key member, cleared the Indo-US deal.

The Prime Minister voiced similar apprehensions. He is believed to have said that unless the Indo-US nuclear deal came through, he would be uncomfortable going ahead with the Russian offer.

Clearly, India’s growing warmth with the US as well as the strong non-proliferation lobby within the Russian establishment have, together, won the day.

The Russian side, on the eve of Singh’s visit, was believed to be divided on the extent of its support for the Indian deal.

While one lobby believed it was possible to “grandfather’’ the offer of the four reactors for Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu by linking it to the 1988 Indo-Soviet nuclear pact, the stronger non-proliferation lobby emphasised that Moscow could not be seen to violate its own Nuclear Suppliers Group restrictions.

Delhi, though, remained keen to continue the nuclear dialogue, and the presence Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar on the Prime Minister’s flight testified to the effort.

But at the news conference, Singh made it clear that the nuclear deal was not coming through now.

“India and Russia enjoy extensive cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Russia is building two nuclear reactors at Kudankulam and has supplied nuclear fuel for Tarapur. When the President visited India in January, we signed a memorandum of intent… the inter-governmental agreement is a work in progress.’’

The Prime Minister was accompanied at the news conference by national security adviser M.K. Narayanan and foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.

Asked if there was a timeline for the Indo-US nuclear deal, Singh said: “We are in the process of evolving a broad-based national consensus.”