Round The World

New Delhi, 22 December 2009

PM’s Moscow Visit

TAKING STRATEGIC TIES FORWARD

By Monish Tourangbam,

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia came close on the heels of another high-profile State visit by him to the US.  India’s ties with Russia and Washington are often projected as an “either-or case”; one coming at the expense of the other. But the back-to-back visits will, to some extent, put at rest the concerns and showcase India as a mature democracy not myopic in its foreign policy calculations. The camaraderie shown by the Indian and Russian leadership in Moscow should mean only one thing -- a rewarding future ahead for India-Russia relations.

The high point of Manmohan Singh’s visit was sealing a broad-based civilian nuclear agreement that should go a long way in furthering the already significant bilateral ties in this field. The deal is reported to go beyond the confines of mere transfer of fuel and reactors involving cooperation in the areas of research and development. The Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) waiver to India has opened the doors of nuclear commerce.

India, being one of the fastest growing economies with a huge consumer base would definitely see it prudent to look for diverse sources of energy and the growing energy ties with an energy-rich Russia could not have come at a more appropriate time. The US-India ‘123 Agreement’ definitely faces some competition but at the same time, the Bush Administration should be complemented for significantly improving India’s prospects for getting the NSG-waiver.

According to reports, the civilian nuclear deal with Russia goes beyond one signed with the US in some crucial aspects. As per the deal with Russia, New Delhi will have reprocessing and enrichment rights. Moreover, no ongoing nuclear power project or uranium fuel supply arrangement with Russia would be affected or stopped in the event of termination of bilateral cooperation for any reason.

On the other hand, the Indo-US nuclear deal talks of termination of ongoing cooperation and the return of US supplied components and fuel in the event of the termination of agreement. The deal with Russia involves construction of four more nuclear reactors in Kudankulam, in Tamil Nadu, where Russia is already building an atomic power station. Moreover, another four reactors are coming up at a new site in West Bengal and there are plans for getting a third site to build more reactors.

Even with a clean proliferation record, India has often been at the receiving end whenever the issue of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) comes up. But, putting all confusions to rest, the Russian President categorically stated that no foreign-imposed restrictions will affect the Indo-Russian nuclear agreement, further specifying that the G8 resolution restricting the sale of reprocessing technologies to non-NPT countries have no relevance in the India-Russia cooperation. Prime Minister Singh also commented that the partnership between the countries was independent and “not influenced by our relations with any other country”.

As a step towards continuing and re-energizing the goodwill between the two countries, 2008 was held as the year of ‘Russia in India’ and 2009 is the year of ‘India in Russia’. This symbolic gesture has been equally matched by the regularity of high-level contacts between the two countries, including the one by President Pratibha Patil this September.

However, a thorny issue in the Indo-Russian relationship that has often threatened mar an otherwise progressive course has been the Gorshkov pricing issue. Before Singh’s visit to Moscow, there were concerns that the issue might create some cold vibes. But if reports are to be believed, India and Russia have resolved the differences on the price of the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov rechristened INS Vikramaditya.

Rounds of dialogues and negotiations have been conducted over this issue and it seems that both the sides have come to an agreement, and accordingly the aircraft carrier could arrive by 2014. The cancellation of the deal would not have severely derailed the comprehensive ties but such an outcome would have dented the reliability of the robust defense cooperation. Moreover, the induction of the aircraft carrier into the Navy would increase India’s potency in the Indian Ocean.

Efforts have been made to take the robust defence cooperation to the area of joint development and production, beyond the confines of a buyer-seller relationship. During the visit, three military pacts were signed to bolster the cooperation and iron out the differences between the countries. Both sought to revitalize an agreement on a multi-role transport aircraft signed in 2007, the existing military technical cooperation was officially extended for another decade and an agreement was worked out for supplying spares for Russian-origin equipments. Talks were also held regarding the supply of Sukhoi-MKI fighters, MiG-29s and the production of a next generation fighter plane.

An added promise to the Indian kitty is Russian hydrocarbon. The talks between the leaders resulted in a promise of immediate and long-term access to the vast hydrocarbon resources in eastern Siberia and far eastern Russia. Productive tie-ups exist between India’s ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and major Russian companies and the current understanding is an important asset to an India diversifying its sources of energy.

Clearly, the demand for energy will increasingly play an important in foreign policy decision-making and the diversification of sources will go a long way in helping India chart an independent foreign policy, not pressured by any external actor. A joint resolve to fight terrorism was agreed upon, within the framework of the Russia-India Working Group on Combating International Terrorism, acknowledging the importance of intelligence sharing.

Besides the military sphere, India and Russia showed satisfaction at the sustenance of trade and investment amid the global recession. Energy, Pharmaceuticals, Information and Technology and Communications was agreed as the area of focus and a target was set to triple the modest bilateral trade of $ 7 billion to $ 20 billion in the next five years. But no definite resolutions could be found on some of the irritants in these focus areas.

Russia wanted some standard-setting in view of the recent seizure of fake drugs in some Indian consignments. Moreover, no solutions could be brought forth to the issue of non-recognition of many Russian degrees in India. There is thus a need to be a more concerted focus on the educational ties between the two countries as Russian education seems to be the last resort and not the primary choice of Indian students.

True, the India-Russia relationship is one that has stood the test of times. Ties between New Delhi and the erstwhile Soviet Union were unquestionable and new Russia is revitalizing the durable ties in a rapidly changing world. In an interdependent and globalized world, where even enemies have to work together on some issues, every relationship is significant on its own footing. Russia and India have enough complementariness and shared interests to sustain a durable relationship. The challenge is to diversify the ties and create more inter-linkages so as to make the relationship more enticing for both the nations in a world of options and choices.--INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)