MOSCOW, Jan 15 (UNB): Dhaka and Moscow signed Tuesday three agreements and six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on cooperation in different fields, including setting up of the much-awaited 1000 MW nuclear power plant at Rooppur in northern Bangladesh.

Ministers and officials concerned of the two countries signed the agreements and MoUs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina witnessed the signing ceremony held at the Russian President's Kremlin office.

Deputy Finance Minister of Russia Sergey Storchak and Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary of Bangladesh Md Abul Kalam Azad signed the agreement on Extension of State Export Credit for Financing the Preparatory Stage Work on the Nuclear Power Plant at Rooppur in Pabna and the agreement on Extension of State Export Credit to the Bangladesh government.

State Minister for Science and Technology Yeafesh Osman and General Director of Russian State Atomic Energy Commission 'Rosatom' SV Kirienko penned the deal on establishment of a Nuclear Industry Information Centre in Bangladesh.

Dhaka and Moscow also signed six MoUs in areas including agriculture, public health and medical science, and counterterrorism to bolster bilateral ties between the two countries.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni and her Russian counterpart Segey Lavrov inked the MoU on counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries.

The MoUs on cooperation in the areas of public health and medical science, agriculture, education, culture, law, justice and parliamentary affairs were signed by Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Russian Health Minister Veronika Igorevna Skvortsova, Agriculture Minister Nikoly Vasilyevich Fyodorov, Education Minister Dmitry Viktorovich Livanov, Cultural Minister Valdimir Rostislavovich Medinsky and Justice Minister Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov.

A BSS report from Moscow adds: "Cooperation in defence was another area for collaboration between Dhaka and Moscow," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a joint press briefing after the official talks between Bangladesh and Russia held at Kremlin in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the Bangladesh side at the talks, while the Russian side was headed by its President Vladimir Putin.

"The 2,000-MW nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, with Russian technical and financial support, is a shinning example of our deeper engagement," Sheikh Hasina said, thanking Putin for his support in offering Bangladesh friendly arrangements for collaboration.

The Prime Minister said, "I believe they (agreements and MoUs) would place our relationship on a firm footing and help in taking practical initiatives in the future."

However, talking to journalists at her hotel lobby on the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh would procure military equipment worth one billion US dollars from Russia under the deal Dhaka and Moscow signed on defence cooperation, another UNB report adds.

Hasina said the friendship between Bangladesh and Russia would reach a new height through her visit, "They (Russia) are our friend of bad time…With this visit we renew our friendship, a new door of prospect has opened up with it."

Hasina also expressed hope that the agreements and MoUs would greatly help Bangladesh elevate its socioeconomic status, and recalled the help and assistance of Russia, the then Soviet Union, during the Liberation War and after the war.

The Prime Minister said the Russian soldiers helped Bangladesh remove mines from Chittagong Port where some soldiers died.

Just after the Independence of the country, she mentioned, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman visited Russia in March 1972 to express the gratitude of Bangladesh to the Russian government and its people.

"After that long 40 years have passed, but no head of government from Bangladesh visited Russia. In 2010, I visited Russia for attending the Tiger Conference held in St Pittsburg," she mentioned.