Yekaterinburg: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached Russia to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on Monday.
On reaching Russia, the Prime Minister alluded to India's old ties with Russia, but maintained silence on the planned talks with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.
"This is my first visit abroad after being reappointed as Prime Minister. It's a visit for our record and respect for Russia and for President Dmitry Medvedev.
But the real focus will be on his meeting with Zardari on the sidelines of the summit in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office have told CNN-IBN that the Prime minister will take up terrorism during the talks and tell President Zardari that "tangible steps must be taken".
Singh's meeting with Zardari will be the first high-level contact between the two countries since the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.
Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan began their two-day summit on Monday to discuss regional security and economic crisis ahead of the plenary meeting of the SCO on Tuesday where they will be joined by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.
The six countries are founder members of the regional grouping set up in 2001, in which India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia have the status of observer nations.
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