Date:05/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120556341500.htm

International

Medvedev promises all help to fight terror

Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday pledged all-out help to India in combating terrorism and offered to step up defence cooperation, including leasing of nuclear submarines.

His remarks came before his departure to India on Thursday. “We stand ready for cooperation in all areas with a view to preventing such acts of terrorism, investigating the recent attack, and establishing a global system of protection against terrorism,” he said in an interview to Doordarshan.

Great expectations

Mr. Medvedev said he had great expectations of his talks in Delhi. “I expect that we will make progress in all areas of cooperation between our countries. I believe that the negotiations with my Indian colleagues will be efficient, fruitful and exceptionally interesting.”

The Russian leader for the first time acknowledged plans to lease nuclear-powered submarines to India.

“We are talking also about cooperation in the sphere of leasing atomic submarines. This is also an important and highly technological area of cooperation… [and] we are willing to enhance cooperation in this field as well.”

Asked if the accident on the Nerpa nuclear submarine could affect plans to lease it to India, he said the accident that claimed 20 lives would have “no negative influence on our relations,” because it was caused by “the so-called human factor,” involving “inadequate qualification of some crewmembers.”

On the dispute over a higher price tag on the Gorshkov aircraft carrier, which is being modernised for the Indian Navy, he said it was not “the easiest issue” in bilateral relations and hoped that the two nations should “demonstrate mutual understanding” and come to an agreement.

Mr. Medvedev called for moving from the buyer-seller relationship in defence between to “deeper” cooperation, as exemplified by the BrahMos missile project.

Describing trade between the two nations as “inadequate,” Mr. Medvedev called for stepping up cooperation in high-tech spheres, such as telecommunications and nuclear energy. He also did not rule out new projects between India and Russia in oil and gas.