Moscow, Nov 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Moscow this evening at the start of his two-day visit, which will take his summit-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin forward.

During his visit, ways to improve bilateral trade, expand energy cooperation and fine-tune defence ties are expected to be outlined in several bilateral pacts to be signed by the two sides.

In particular, the focus will be on upgrading the predominant buyer-seller relationship between India and Russia in the defence sector to a new level of joint partnership for co-developing state-of-the-art future weapon systems.

Earlier, before his departure from New Delhi, Singh said that India's "multifaceted bilateral cooperation" with Russia is based on long-term interests, and the strategic partnership between New Delhi and Moscow is an "enduring bond of friendship, which has strong historical roots. "

Singh said that India's relations with Russia have traditionally been a factor of peace and stability in the region and beyond.

"I am convinced that the strong fundamentals of mutual trust and a shared world view on regional and global issues would continue to bring our two countries closer together in a dynamic international environment, " he said. (ANI)