Round The World

New Delhi, 16 December 2008

Mendvedev’s Visit

UNNOTICED BUT SIGNIFICANT

By Monish Tourangbam, Research Scholar

School of International Studies, JNU

Arriving in the aftermath of the Mumbai mayhem and the unfolding events thereafter, the maiden visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India received scant media attention. Nevertheless, it was a significant event, where efforts were made to expand ties with a resurgent Russia. In the face of the recurring attacks on national security, the energy crunch and the official financial meltdown, it becomes imperative for New Delhi to look to avenues for co-operation. Hence, Medvedev's visit provided an opportunity to re-assess the potential of Indo-Russian relations.

The Russian President was the first world leader to travel to India after the Mumbai attacks. This gave both the Indian and the Russian establishments to take into account the current status of regional security, especially the recurring insecurity in Afghanistan. In a way that may have raised some eyebrows in Washington, wherein the joint agreement signed between India and Russia calls for a coherent and a united international commitment, both to Afghanistan's development and security aspects, to deal with threats from a determined and coordinated resurgence of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

This apart the joint agreement dealt with the growth in cross-border terrorism, its links with international terrorism and international drug trafficking. Both sides welcome Russia's initiative to organize an international conference on Afghanistan in the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), involving its Member States and Observers.

The text of the agreement, though, not literally critical of any country, was meant to send clear signals of India’s independent foreign policy and the clout that emerging countries like ours and resurgent Russia demand in world politics. In fact, it closely resembled a treatise on the inevitable rise of a multi-polar world, emphasizing the salience of the United Nations and that of growing interaction in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) format. 

Hence, the text tries and covers some of the pressing global issues that, as a matter of fact, also involve the US. If New Delhi and Moscow believe that all efforts should be made to address the Iranian nuclear issue by peaceful means, dialogue and negotiation, both sides also reaffirm their commitment to securing a comprehensive, lasting and just settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict through a recognized international legal base.

If New Delhi fully appreciates the desire of the Russian Federation to join the Asia-Europe meeting and East Asia summit mechanisms, Moscow expresses its support for a more active role for India as an Observer State in the SCO. It reaffirms its support to India as a deserving and strong candidate for the permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council.  In an interesting development, New Delhi has too supported the important role of the Russian Federation in promoting peace & cooperation in the Caucasian region.  

Irrespective of these strategic calculations, the crux of the visit was cementing the evolving cooperation in the civilian nuclear sector, gaining importance post the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver. Both sides signed agreements that would go a long way in allaying New Delhi’s worries of the country’s limited sources of uranium. At present, mines at Singhbhum, Jharkhand are the only source of nuclear power plants, with other areas of exploration entangled in environmental issues and the unavailability of sophisticated equipments. Recently, chief of Nuclear Power Corporation of India, S.K. Jain was quoted as saying that unless India was lucky to explore new reserves, shortage of fuel may jeopardize the country's nuclear energy growth plants.

At a summit meeting between Medvedev and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a mega-agreement to supply nearly 2,000 tonnes of uranium was finalized. This would help increase the efficiency of the existing plants to 90 per cent from an unhealthy 40 to 60 per cent due to shortage of the raw material. The two sides agreed to set up four more plants at Koodankulam, Tamil Nadu, where Russia is already assisting in installing two plants.

In addition, the two agreed to explore the possibility of setting up more nuclear plants, with Russia offering a new power plant AES-2006, which incorporates a third generation WER-1200 reactor of 1170MW. The nuclear reactor will operate at higher thermal power of 3200 MW with a longer life span of 50 years. What's more, all reactors will reportedly be supplied with lifetime guarantee of fuel. Thus, the success in signing these agreements makes Russia the first country to have established civilian nuclear cooperation in concrete terms with India post the NSG waiver.

The visit has also seen significant developments towards overcoming contentious issues in the already vibrant defense ties between the two countries. Principal among these is the tendentious issue of cost escalation for the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which India has contracted to buy. On the eve of Medvedev's visit, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Manmohan Singh gave its seal of approval to an agreement reached between the two sides to resolve the pricing issue within three months as Russia has more than doubled the original price of the carrier to over $2 billion.

Another issue is the confusion over the fate of the deal on the Russian-built nuclear powered, Akula-II class Nerpa attack submarine, which met with an accident during trials in the Sea of Japan last month. It was to be rechristened in the Indian Navy as INS Chakra and delivered by 2009 on a 10-year lease primarily to be used to train crews to operate this kind of a vessel. The Russian President however, dismissed the differences on the purchase of military platforms as "nothing special" that couldn’t be resolved by "adjustments" by both sides.

The UPA-led government has approved the acquisition of 80 medium-lift Mi-17 helicopters from Russia worth $1.3 billion. Besides, Space agencies of both the nations agreed on plans for cooperation in manned space flights, in addition to their resolve to cooperate in Chandrayaan II. Regarding the sluggish economic ties between the two nations that thanks to a host of problems, including visas for businessmen, the plan is to increase trade to $10 billion by 2010 from this year's $7 billion, and diversify economic cooperation.

In the joint agreement, the two sides also emphasized the important role of the private sector in developing bilateral trade and investment between each other, taking special note of the creation of the India-Russia CEOs Council. Expressing satisfaction over cooperation in the field of science and technology under the framework of the Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP), they also underlined the importance of bringing relevant technologies to their respective markets. Last but not the least, both New Delhi and Moscow expressed satisfaction at the successful conduct of the 'Year of Russia' in India, 2008. Now, it was time to work together on the smooth holding of 'Year of India' in Russia in 2009.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)