India’s Ambassador to Moscow Kanwal Sibal finished his mission in Russia on Monday and went back to Delhi.
Photo: Vasily Shaposhnikov
|
 |
Moscow to Be First to Benefit from US-India Nuke Cooperation
// India’s Ambassador to Moscow gives his last interview in this capacity
India’s Ambassador to Moscow Kanwal Sibal finished his mission in Russia on Monday and went back to Delhi. He gave an interview with Kommersant’s Sergey Strokan to explain how Russian-Indian relations have changed during his time in Moscow.
Mr. Sibal, the main problem in the bilateral cooperation three years ago was discrepancy between close political ties and underdeveloped economic cooperation. Has anything changed since then?
I wouldn’t say that the situation has changed dramatically, but the progress is evident. Turnover has doubled to $4 billion over the past three years. The sum, of course, is not that big if you consider the size of our economies. But still we are able to drive bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2010. Sectors such energy, diamonds, pharmaceutics, textile industry and IT have huge potential. India and Russia have founded the Forum on Trade and Investment which holds its second session in Delhi in February. So, we are going in the right direction though the pace is not very high.
Russia and the West are going through a difficult stage in their relations. The West criticizes Moscow for backsliding on democracy while Moscow accuses the West of trying to give it the part of a younger brother. How does India feel about this?
The end of the Cold War was to change the mutual perception of the West and Russia dramatically. But expectations of the both parties fell flat. The West believes that Russia can be a reliable partner which poses no threat only if it becomes a Western modeled democracy. Russia in its turn view this approach as a trap to seize control over Russia and its resources.
India has long-term, stable and mutually beneficial relations with Russia. At the same time, India’s relations with the United States have dramatically improved. So, neither India, nor Russia or the West needs turbulence in their relations.
India has signed a milestone nuclear agreement with Washington. There is an opinion that it could jeopardize long-term nuclear ties with Moscow. Do you agree with that?
Moscow will be the first to benefit from nuclear cooperation between India and the United States. Russia is already building two nuclear power plants in Kudankulam. A protocol of intention to build four more power stations with Russian reactors was signed during President Putin’s visit to India in January. Our negotiations with any other partners including the United States have not reached this level. We plan to add 20,000 MWt of nuclear-generated energy to our national electric power grid by 2020, so there will plenty of opportunities for those interested. Russia will surely get its share, and it will be considerable.
The controversial supply of Russian RD-93 engines to Pakistan via China has sparked discussions about military and technical cooperation between Moscow and Islamabad. As Russia’s strategic partner India thought as usual that Pakistan must not get a single cartridge. What is your view on this issue?
There has never been talk about a single cartridge. But when you take a decision you should consider a lot of factors including domestic situation in Pakistan. Also, I don’t agree that staying away from cooperation with Pakistan, Russian military industry is losing some sort of extensive market.
I’d like to remind that relations between Russia and India in defense are a strong bulwark for our strategic partnership. Currently, several bilateral military contracts worth the total of $14.6 billion are being carried out. New major contracts are to be drafted. The both countries are interested in fostering the current relations based on mutual trust. In order retain this trust on a high level, we must always weight our decisions very carefully.
There have recently been reports about delays in the delivery contract for the Admiral Goshkov aircraft-carrier. What is the situation now?
Indeed, media reported delays, but we should wholly believe these reports. A group of Indian observers have been working at the Sevmash plant from the very start of the project. We also have written assurances of the Russian party that the project will meet deadlines. At the same time we know that Russia is making new calculation for the project’s cost. The interstate commission on military and technical cooperation are meeting for a session in October. We will know the timetable at this session if it doesn’t happen earlier. This is a prestigious project, and the timing issue is very sensitive to the both parties.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 17, 2007
|
|
|
