India, Russia defence ties on track

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MAY 2. There are many international issues of interest to Russia on which Mr. Igor Ivanov, Russian Foreign Minister, would want a clarification from India, during his visit to Delhi on May 4 and 5. Of particular interest to him would be the effect Delhi's new-found warmth in its ties with Washington would have on Moscow.

Russia has little to worry about defence cooperation with India. Delhi is understood to have assured Moscow that defence ties between the two countries are firmly on track and unaffected by the Tehelka scandal. The first meeting of the Indo- Russian Joint Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation, set up last year, is to take place in Moscow shortly.

But some issues have assumed relevance in the wake of the External Affairs Minister and Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh's talks in Washington. One such is the U.S. decision to walk out of the 1972 treaty on anti-ballistic missile defences and build a national missile shield. In an interview to The Hindu, on the eve of Mr. Ivanov's departure, Mr. Alexander Yakovenko, chief spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, hailed India as ``one of the first countries'' to support Russia's stand in defence of the ABM treaty. Mr. Ivanov would seek reiteration of that support.

Whether India's recent rapprochement with the U.S. will affect its readiness to take a common stand on issues of shared concern with Russia and China, both of which have problems with the new administration in Washington, will be another issue. Russia has been emphasising the need for trilateral cooperation with India and China, while ruling out a formal axis. According to Mr. Yakovenko, ``there is objective opportunity for certain coordination by the three nations of their efforts on key foreign policy issues.'' China has also recently warmed up to the idea. It has given a green signal for a trilateral meeting of scholars in Moscow in September, while its Foreign Minister, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, told reporters in Moscow during the weekend that China favoured a ``step-by-step, planned, gradual'' movement towards trilateral cooperation. The anti-Taliban agenda is bound to become the main highlight of the Indo-Russian talks in Delhi, with both sides fearing the spread of terrorism and religious extremism in the region. What Mr. Ivanov may want to hear is how far India is prepared to go with Russia and Iran in aiding the opposition forces in Afghanistan.

Mr. Ivanov's visit opens a busy programme of high- level bilateral exchanges to prepare an Indo-Russian summit in Moscow later this year. In the six months or so before the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee's State visit to Russia, senior officials will travel to each other's country every month or more often, according to diplomatic sources here. Of special interest will be Mr. Jaswant Singh's visit to Moscow later this month. As co-chairman of the Joint Commission for Defence Cooperation, Mr. Singh will interact with Russia's new Defence Minister, Mr. Sergei Ivanov. Their discussions are likely to extend far beyond the defence agenda as both have much broader responsibilities in their Governments.

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Section  : International
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