Manmohan's Visit to Moscow
Indo-Russian partnership grows stronger
Photo: AFP
ON 6th December, the Indian Prime Minister paid a three-day visit to Russia for the Annual Summit Meeting with the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. It was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second visit to Russia this year. He visited Yekaterinburg in the Russian Federation in June for his first visit abroad after the formation of the new government to participate in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Summits. They also met in September at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. During the visit, the key points of his discussion with the Russian President were reportedly cooperation in areas of defence, civil nuclear energy, space, science and technology, hydrocarbon, the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology. Earlier, in a departure statement issued before leaving for Moscow, Dr. Singh said: "The Annual Summit is the principal mechanism for the advancement of our strategic partnership with Russia. This is a partnership based on the solid foundation of long-standing friendship, deep mutual trust and strong convergence of interests. Over the years, our multifaceted cooperation with Russia has acquired greater depth and maturity through joint efforts. We seek to strengthen these ties further." Summit meetings always provide new impulse and momentum to the existing ties as well as an opportunity to revisit and rediscover the potential for furthering mutually beneficial cooperation. Medvedev and Manmohan Singh presided over the signing of intergovernmental agreements on the 2011-2020 military technical cooperation programme and post-sales service and maintenance of arms and military equipment supplied to India, and also a protocol to the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in developing and manufacturing a multipurpose transport plane. An agreement between the Russian and Indian governments on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy was initialled. The joint declaration on deepening the two countries' strategic partnership with the aim of countering global challenges was adopted at the conclusion of the talks. This document assesses the importance of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership and sets out a common vision on establishing a polycentric international system for the twenty-first century. Indo-Russian relationship Indian ties with the Russian Federation are historic, close and uniquely enduring. During the Cold War era, India and Soviet Union was linked through a Friendship Treaty of August 1971, although India professed non-alignment as a component of its foreign policy. These ties are based on a strong national consensus in both countries that has cut across ideologies and political conditions. The bilateral relationship had been re-energized with the declaration of a Strategic Partnership between the two countries during the visit to India in 2000 by the then President Putin. "Since then, our partnership has diversified enormously and you can see that today the relationship is a uniquely strong and expanding one, particularly in the fields of defence, nuclear energy, hydrocarbons, space research and science and technology," said Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. Beginning with the State visit of President Patil in September 2009, India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visited the Russian Federation in the months of October and November 2009, when diverse aspects of the bilateral relationship have been reviewed and the path ahead has been charted out, the Indian Foreign Secretary informed. Why the visit? The visit to Moscow, according to many analysts, may be perceived in the context of the visit to Washington of India's Prime Minister at the end of November this year. Furthermore, the visit to Washington was clouded by President Obama's visit to China. Obama's tone of speech in China created an impression in India that the US worries more about offending China than standing up for the values it shares with India. President Obama's "deferential" statements during his visit to China have raised questions about India's relationship with the US. Indian media reports say that the President has gone out of the way to present a kinder and gentler image of America, reassuring China that America does not seek to contain the rising economic giant. Indians are angered over the perception that Obama neglected India during his recent trip to Asia and seemed to endorse a stronger role for China in India's sensitive dealings with Pakistan. "There's a certain amount of Bush nostalgia," said Teresita Schaffer, a former State Department South Asia specialist and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka. She said, "While Bush was seen as having an emotional and ideological connection to the country, Obama's connection is seen as cerebral and as being eroded by domestic problems and by the focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan." Observers say that Obama has taken a strategic view: the China-Pakistani axis is more important to American interests in Afghanistan and Iran than India. It was a calculated move as Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and others have targeted Pakistan and China for numerous visits this year, while basically ignoring India. Obama has also put more pressure on India than they would like. He lectured India about making greater concessions in Kashmir just weeks before Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai. Furthermore, in April this year, President Obama vowed that the United States will take concrete steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons. To reduce US warheads and stockpiles, his administration will negotiate a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Russians this year. "To achieve a global ban on nuclear testing, my administration will immediately and aggressively pursue US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). After more than five decades of talks, it is time for the testing of nuclear weapons to finally be banned," Obama said. Obama expected India to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and CTBT but India's Prime Minister was reportedly reluctant to commit to do so. Against the background, it was reported that Dr. Singh failed in the main objective of his visit - to ''operationalise'' the nuclear deal concluded in the Bush era. While Obama pledged to ''fully implement'' the agreement, potentially crucial details of nuclear technology transfers to India have not been finalised. Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi summed up the visit: ''In a nutshell, Singh got a nice state ceremony, China got respect as an equal and Pakistan has got billions of dollars of additional US aid. India will have to be satisfied with the sumptuous dinner.'' Many analysts say that India's Prime Minister's visit is to achieve what he failed to get from the Obama administration on nuclear and defence deals. Carnegie Moscow Center expert Peter Topychkanov notes that to "the extent that Russian and Indian leaders exchange visits each year, Manmohan Singh's trip is somewhat routine. That said, though, these visits have not always led to the development of real agreements. This year, however, the visit of the Prime Minister of India was filled with real agreements in the area of military-technical cooperation, including cooperation on the development of a multipurpose transport plane, as well as cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy." The author is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
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