MOSCOW, Nov 12: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee voiced concern on Wednesday over the Taliban “threat” in Afghanistan in wide-ranging talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at forging closer ties between the two countries.

“Events in Afghanistan cause anxiety, there exists a threat of the Taliban’s return” in one form or another, he told Mr Putin in the Kremlin.

Noting “many uncertainties” in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Mr Vajpayee called on the international community to renew its commitment to Afghanistan.

Going into the talks, Mr Putin noted that Mr Vajpayee’s visit was “an important staging-post in the strengthening of the strategic partnership” of the two countries.

Mr Vajpayee’s three-day visit, accompanied by several ministers and nearly 100 businessmen, is his second Russian trip this year, and officials in both capitals have been at pains to stress the importance of maintaining the rhythm of their contacts.

Russia remains India’s largest supplier of military hardware more than a decade after the end of the Cold War, and accounts for more than 70 percent of army, air force and navy equipment.

Quoting a senior Indian chamber of commerce official, the RIA Novosti news agency said businessmen in New Delhi were hoping that trade with Russia could reach five billion dollars a year by 2005.

Sergei Prikhodko, deputy head of the Kremlin administration, told the ITAR-TASS news agency that Mr Putin and Mr Vajpayee would discuss military-technical cooperation, trade and economic relations, and contacts in the scientific sphere in addition to international issues.—AFP