Firming up a friendship

Vajpayee's visit to Moscow strengthens bilateral ties, besides helping arrive at a common approach to the question of tackling international terrorism.

THE events surrounding the war in Afghanistan overshadowed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's recent foreign tour. The Kremlin was preoccupied with other high-level visits in early November when Vajpayee was in Russia. Since September 11, Russia's foreign policy also seems to have undergone a change, with the Kremlin and the White House getting closer to each other. President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov were busy preparing for the former's summit with U.S. President George W. Bush, which was scheduled in the third week of November. The warmth and bonhomie that marked the summit was further proof of the new, cooperative phase in Russian-American relations.

At least for the time being the Bush administration is grateful to Russia for its help in the "war against terrorism". The Kremlin too had made significant unilateral concessions to Washington in the past two months. The Bush administration reciprocated by signalling that Russia's interests in the lucrative oil and gas industry in the Caspian and Central Asian region will be accommodated.

There are indications that the Putin government has become slightly flexible on the issue of the U.S.' attempt to build a National Missile Defence (NMD) system though it did not make any concessions during the summit. Russian officials proclaimed until recently that the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty was the cornerstone of the global disarmament process. The Bush administration wants the treaty to be scrapped so that its NMD programme could go ahead full steam. At this juncture Washington is giving more importance to Russia than to other "natural allies" such as India. At a joint press conference with Putin, Bush said that although there were differences between the two countries in many areas, Russia was now a close friend.

At the same time, Moscow and New Delhi continue to have excellent relations and have few differences on important global issues. New Delhi's rush to welcome the NMD proposals was a surprise for Moscow as it was for the rest of the international community, but the war on terrorism has put the NMD issue on the back burner. Interestingly, in a joint statement issued during Vajpayee's visit, India and Russia expressed their "support to preserving (the) existing arms control and disarmament agreements, including the ABM treaty of 1972". They also called for the non-weaponisation of outer space. It is obvious that New Delhi now has had a rethink of sorts on the uncritical support it gave to the Bush administration on the NMD issue.

THE major focus of Vajpayee's visit was the situation in Afghanistan. Defence cooperation was the other substantive issue. A "Moscow Declaration" signed during the visit gave a call for the "completion of negotiations under U.N. auspices on the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and the Convention of the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism". Putin and Vajpayee emphasised that the adoption of these conventions would help the international community combat "the global menace of terrorism" effectively. They "reaffirmed the central role of the U.N. in the struggle against terrorism". Although it is not explicitly spelt out, the two countries want Washington's stance on terrorism to be a more principled one.

At a joint media conference in Moscow, Putin spoke about the "double standards" of the international community in the fight against terrorism. The West has criticised the way Russia handled the situation in Chechnya and the Indian government's response to the insurgency in Kashmir. After the events of September 11, the West seems to have given more latitude to Russia in tackling the Chechen insurgency.

Igor Ivanov advised India to resolve the Kashmir problem "peacefully". He reiterated that the Russian position on Kashmir remained unchanged. However, he welcomed Pakistan's role in the U.S.-led war against terrorism, saying that Pakistan was an influential actor in the region and in the Islamic world. Before Vajpayee reached Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said that the assistance Pakistan received from the West was "justified" even though it caused a "certain nervousness" in the Indian government.

Vajpayee and Putin discussed the challenges arising out of the fast-changing situation in Afghanistan. When Vajpayee was in Russia, nobody had expected the Taliban shackles over the major cities of Afghanistan to disappear. From the viewpoint of both the countries, the Northern Alliance taking control of most of Afghanistan was a pleasing development. After this, both seem to have modified their tough stance on the proposed government of national unity in Afghanistan.

From the outset Moscow has been emphasising on a leading role for the United Nations within the framework of international law and the U.N. Charter in the war against terrorism while New Delhi had initially given a carte blanche to Washington. Putin acknowledged that India had a legitimate interest in the region but he did not endorse its demand for its inclusion in the "six plus two" grouping on Afghanistan (six immediate neighbours of Afghanistan along with Russia and the U.S.)

Ivanov revived the idea of Moscow, New Delhi and Beijing working in tandem "to establish a system of security and stability" in Asia.

Russia was keen on wrapping up some multi-billion-dollar defence deals with India. It has been trying to get New Delhi to expedite the Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal for quite some time. But Indian officials say that technical and financial details relating to the deal are yet to be sorted out. During his visit to Delhi in October, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said that Russia would lease four TU-23M3 strategic bombers to India. Russia also wanted India to buy a fleet of MiG-29 fighters as part of the Gorshkov package.

Defence Minister George Fernandes had described Russia as a "true friend" of India a few weeks before Vajpayee's visit. He said that Russia was quick to respond to Indian requests for urgent arms replenishment during the Kargil war. Disclosing that around 70 per cent of India's defence budget for the current financial year remained unspent, he indicated that given the time- tested friendship between the two countries, preference would be given to weaponry of Russian origin. However, both sides have a lot of complaints. India is unhappy with the high prices charged by Russian manufacturers for "spares" and the fact that it has to make purchases through intermediary agencies. Moscow, on the other hand, feels that the Indian government discriminates against Russian manufacturers. Russian officials say that whereas India goes directly to the manufacturers when spares are needed for war planes of British and French origin, it holds open tenders in the case of Russian equipment.

During Vajpayee's visit, the much-heralded Koodankulam nuclear power plant deal was signed between India and Russia.

The United Kingdom, like the U.S., was not in Vajpayee's original itinerary, which was confined to Russia. The "feel good" visit to London, which lasted only a day, was used by the two sides to discuss the issue of terrorism. British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited India in October with the specific purpose of keeping New Delhi in good humour. The Indian government had felt left out in the war against terrorism as Pakistan was given "frontline state" status along with political, military and financial perquisites.

During Vajpayee's visit, Blair praised India's role as a leading member of the international force against terrorism. Both leaders "agreed to maintain the strongest possible coalition in the fight against terrorism". Blair urged Vajpayee to resume dialogue with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Blair evinced interest in the huge deal involving the purchase of the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) by the Indian Air Force. British Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon was in New Delhi in the third week of November in order to expedite the deal.