India-Russia Summit

30 December 2011, 18:00 PM

Barrister Harun ur Rashid

Photo: AFP

INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived Moscow on December 15 on a three-day visit for a bilateral summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as part of the 12th annual Indo-Russian summit. Manmohan Singh met also Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on December 16. The bilateral summit has already received a major boost after official sources in New Delhi confirmed that a Nerpa-class nuclear submarine leased for 10 years from Russia would be joining the Indian Navy in early 2012. The development came just hours after the PM reached Moscow for the bilateral summit. The Indian prime minister had, prior to his departure for Moscow, emphasised on the long-standing and historic ties between the two nations and expressed hope of taking the relationship to a new level. "Both countries recognise the significant mutual benefit we derive from working together...Our bilateral relations with Russia are based on mutual trust, friendship and shared interests," the PM had said in a statement. Observing that Prime Minister Putin has played a key role in the development of "our Strategic Partnership, and has been the architect of our contemporary relationship," Dr. Singh, in his statement, said, "I will review with him the progress we have made in our relations since his visit to India in March 2010." Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin said after 10 years of 'strategic' ties, the two countries had redefined their relations as a 'special and privileged' diplomatic partnership. He said Russia will be with India 'rain or shine' and "2010 was unprecedented. India was only country that both Russian president and Prime Minister visited in one year. It is Himalayan relations." Referring to the last year's visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India when 'an unprecedented' 33 agreements were signed, he said during this visit, though the number of agreements will be less, the quality of the pacts would be far greater. During the visit, Dr. Singh discussed to strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation and consolidate coordination on regional and global issues between the two traditional allies. During the meetings, the two sides discussed their civil nuclear cooperation, in particular the setting up of units III and IV of the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu with Russian assistance. The two sides discussed proposals to ramp up their strategic relations and also signed agreements in the fields of defence, health and science technology "Our relations encompass diverse sectors, including nuclear energy, defence, space, science and technology, hydrocarbons, trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges," Dr Singh said. In the sphere of defence, the two sides signed further agreements on joint development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft and multirole transport aircraft, apart from discussing the progress of the BrahMos missile programme. Bilateral trade figured high in the agenda of the summit. It has already witnessed a 15 per cent growth from $7.46 billion in 2009 to $8.535 billion in 2010. The two countries, in 2009, decided to target $20 billion worth of bilateral trade by 2015 with a focus on energy, pharmaceuticals, IT, steel, hydrocarbons, aerospace and agriculture. Indian prime minister discussed with Medvedev, how to further enhance bilateral consultations in international forums like the United Nations Security Council, G20, BRICS as well as the East Asia Summit which Russia has recently joined. He held in-depth exchange of views with the Russian leadership on the crisis facing the global economy and the political developments in our extended neighbourhood which included the situation in the "Gulf and Afghanistan and the impact of all this on peace and stability in the world." 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 or political conditions. The bilateral relationship has been re-energised with the declaration of a Strategic Partnership between the two countries during the visit to India in 2000 by the then President Putin. Carnegie Moscow Center expert Peter Topychkanov notes that , "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 phrase 'strategic partnership' had been diluted and reduced in value in recent times and had become a fashionable usage in diplomatic relations. However, strategic partnership between India and Russia has been path-breakers and unique. The writer is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.