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India, Russia to mull over joining hands with China
By Our Special Correspondent
The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, with the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, before a meeting in New Delhi, on Monday. - AFP
NEW DELHI, FEB. 4. India and Russia today agreed to explore the possibilities of advancing trilateral cooperation with China to combat terrorism and develop alternate energy routes. Welcoming the idea of developing trilateral cooperation ``slowly and steadily'', India, however, said it was unwilling to rush into a formal axis.
The issue of trilateral cooperation as well as the need to continue the partnership with Iran and the Central Asian Republics over Afghanistan were discussed during an hour-long interaction between the visiting Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, and the Defence Minister, George Fernandes.
``Both agreed that the three countries can explore means of strengthening cooperation slowly and steadily. It is a movement towards discussing issues of common concerns. It is a noteworthy factor which we must keep in sight,'' said an External Affairs Ministry spokesperson.
Russia concurred with the Indian standpoint on terrorism and conceded that there should be ``no double- standards'' on the issue. Mr. Fernandes informed Mr. Ivanov that there was no meaningful decline in infiltration from Pakistan and pointed out that Islamabad must take concrete action on ending cross-border terrorism before any possibility of a dialogue was explored. ``The December 13 attack on Parliament was a cut-off date for us,'' he told Mr. Ivanov, adding that India appreciated the solidarity extended by Russia. ``This is a special relationship,'' he said.
The two Ministers also discussed India's request for emergency supply of defence spares and arms. However, the visit of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Ilya Klebanov, which begins tomorrow will be of great significance from the point of bilateral military-to-military ties. A Russian team is already here to prepare for a new defence protocol which might include a joint programme for developing futuristic weapons systems.
Mr. Klebanov is scheduled to meet Mr. Fernandes on Wednesday and on Friday, the two will co-chair a meeting of the Indo-Russian inter-governmental committee on military-technical cooperation. Apart from the leasing of nuclear submarines from Russia, discussions will also centre around military hardware suited for India. In between, Mr. Klebanov and the Union Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha, will co-chair the panel on financial and scientific cooperation and sign a protocol.
PTI reports from Moscow:
Russia is willing to go far beyond the sale and lease of hi-tech weapons like nuclear-powered submarines and long-range bombers to India and offer New Delhi a stake in its programmes for developing new generation weapons.
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