India, Russia oppose unilateral abrogation of ABM Treaty

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JUNE 21. India and Russia have reaffirmed opposition to any unilateral moves to reshape the existing global security architecture in the course of bilateral consultations on strategic stability held here.

The first meeting of the Joint Working Group on strategic stability was held here on June 20 under the co-chairmanship of the Additional Secretary, MEA, Mr. T.C.A. Rangachari, and the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Georgy Mamedov. It is also the first such consultations Russia had with any country after the Russian-American summit talks in Ljubljana, Slovenia, last weekend. India thus became the first country to be briefed by Russia on the outcome of the Ljubljana talks.

Informed sources said the Indo-Russian consultations had been held in the atmosphere of ``trust and confidence''. The Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, called the External Affairs and Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, on Wednesday to inform him of the Putin-Bush meeting and the recent Shanghai summit of Russia, China and four Central Asian states. ``Mr. Ivanov noted with satisfaction the constructive character of the Russian- Indian consultations on strategic stability,'' the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

India and Russia came out against the unilateral abrogation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, the sources said. The Russian President on Monday, for the first time, publicly warned that Russia would tip its nuclear missiles with multiple warheads if the U.S. scraps the ABM Treaty.

The Indian and Russian delegations also stressed the integrity of disarmament and arms control measures. This is in response to indications that Washington may turn its back on the ABM Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the sources said. The U.S. has never ratified the CTBT and voices are being heard in America that multilateral accords are not the best mechanism of arms control. Russia has ratified the CTBT, whereas India, which is yet to join the treaty, has declared a moratorium on nuclear tests.

Russia is keen to involve all key players in talks on the proposed U.S. missile shield, including the European nations, China and India. Moscow has indicated it would support non- strategic missile defences, provided they do not violate the ABM Treaty and be open to all interested countries.

``The sides supported activisation of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the aim of neutralising new global challenges to international security and stability, (and) the arms race in outer space,'' the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

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Section  : International
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