Round The World

New Delhi, 17 March 2010

Putin’s Visit

DIVERSIFYING INDIA-RUSSIA TIES

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

India and Russia share a wide range of mutual convergences and the influential Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin symbolizes the upward trend in the bilateral ties between the two nations in the post-Cold War era. During the cold war, India maintained a fairly good rapport with erstwhile Soviet Union amidst the geostrategic virtual divisions of the world. In the game of great power rivalry, New Delhi tried to maintain its non-aligned nature while managing ties with both the USSR and the United States.

But after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Cold War came to an end and world politics went through a whirlwind of changes. In the altered circumstances, India has painted a different picture of itself: a vibrant and rapidly growing economy with one of the most enviable markets in the world, thanks to the liberalization of its economy. Today, when countries are interlinked in different areas of engagement, the challenge is to keep oiling the ties, keeping intact the mutuality of interest and more so the economic viability of the relationships. 

The presidential years of Prime Minister Putin has been largely credited with bringing back Russia into the reckoning in world politics using its energy resource as a major driving force of economic resurgence and hence a corresponding rise in strategic and political clout. Putin as the then president of the Russian Federation was also responsible for opening a new chapter in India-Russia ties considering the changes and continuities.

Though the US still holds sway in today’s world in terms of its superior military, the world is very different from either being bipolar or unipolar. In fact, it now resembles more of a multi-polar world in which every relationship should be considered at its own merit and differences should be worked out through diplomacy and not through cowboy-style duels.

The leadership in both India and Russia, despite some occasional hiccups has been able to keep the relationship sailing. The recent visit of  Putin is credible in increasing the pace and regularity of communication between the two countries, coming after the successful Moscow visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late last year. Putin’s itinerary was strictly business and intended to carry forward official discussions on many of the projects and understandings reached during Singh’s visit.

While, new ventures were initiated and a host of other issues came in for serious consideration, the focus was on cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy and defence trade. The high point of Singh's visit was sealing a broad-based civilian nuclear agreement. The civilian nuclear deal with Russia goes beyond one signed with the US in some crucial aspects. Accordingly, Russia and 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.

During Putin’s two-day visit, five agreements were inked between the two sides --two each in the nuclear sphere and fertilizers and one in the civilian space segment, besides many other in the sidelines that will significantly boost bilateral ties. The signing of the umbrella nuclear agreement sealed during Singh’s Moscow visit and decisions to expand cooperation in the development of civilian nuclear energy reactors would importantly enhance the ties in research and design.

India’s public sector nuclear enterprise Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Russia’s Atomstroy Export signed a separate commercial contract to build more nuclear reactors of 1,000 MW each at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. Sites for Russian reactors were also allocated at Haripur in West Bengal. Moreover, the goal, according to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), is for progressive indigenization of the nuclear reactors to be built in India with Russian collaboration.

The Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) waiver to India has opened the doors of nuclear commerce. The Bush Administration should be complemented for significantly improving India's prospects for getting the NSG-waiver. This vindicates the argument that engagements with different countries at different levels open up opportunities at other corridors, thus amplifying the importance of maintaining ties at their own merit. According to Putin, nuclear cooperation will go beyond mere building of reactors and supplying fuel to include waste disposal. He assured that the Russian reactors would be incorporated with latest safety measures, at the same adding that New Delhi was expected to put orders of up to a dozen reactors which could enable their supply at affordable rates.

The Inter-Government Agreement on Cooperation in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purpose signed during the visit envisaged the possibility of setting up a nuclear fuel facility in India. New Delhi has also agreed to consider the Russian offer to participate in an international nuclear fuel enrichment centre at Angarsk, Siberia.

However, a thorny issue in the Indo-Russian relationship that has often threatened mar an otherwise progressive course has been the Gorshkov pricing issue. While Singh’s visit had reportedly managed to achieve a thaw in the issue, Putin’s visit managed to finally seal the price of the re-fitted Soviet-era aircraft. 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.

The sealing of the long-delayed renegotiated deal for Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, has removed an irritant in bilateral ties. This apart, 14 supplementary agreements were signed for finalization of cost and other technical aspects of the carrier. Despite India diversifying its source of defence purchases and new players giving competition, Russia continues to be the largest supplier of military hardware to India.

Besides the burgeoning defence trade, a conventional area of Indo-Russian cooperation, broader economic ties are not matching the potential. Major initiatives have been taken with a vision to close these gaps and harness potential to the optimum level. As such, pacts were signed on oil exploration, trade in diamonds and import of fertilizers.

Widening the horizons of high-tech cooperation, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Russian space agency inked a pact on civilian application of the Russia Glonass (the Global Navigation Satellite System), the Russian equivalent of the US Global Positioning System. Pacts were signed to further intensify trade in the aviation sector, and IT and telecommunications were identified as major areas of focus to substantially increase the bilateral economic ties.

India-Russia ties ended on a good note last year and have started on a good note this year, as both sides welcome a free flow of timely discussion on a host of issues. Indeed, Putin’s visit both intensified and diversified the relationship, cementing the existing ties and building new vistas of cooperation. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

.