The Hindu : International / India & World : Ties with India may get a boost: Russian scholars

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 15, 2004

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International - India & World

Ties with India may get a boost: Russian scholars

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MAY 14. Russian experts on India expect the bilateral ties to get a further boost as a result of the Congress victory in the general elections in India.

"There are grounds to hope for closer relations between the two countries under a Congress-led government," said Tatyana Shaumyan, head of the Russian Academy of Sciences Centre for Indian Studies.

"After all, it was the Congress that laid the basis for [the] Indo-Russian friendship and presided over all-round flourishing of bilateral cooperation in the economy, geopolitics and defence. Russians have the warmest possible feelings towards the Congress leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and see the latest Congress victory as a personal triumph of Sonia Gandhi and the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty," Dr. Shaumyan told The Hindu.

"I am sure [the] strategic partnership between our countries will grow stronger under a Congress-dominated government."

Russian Indologists also believe Russia could do more to tap the potential for growth in the bilateral ties.

"We should take a fresh look at the possibilities for bilateral cooperation offered by India's advances in IT, high-tech and other fields," said Felix Yurlov of the Institute of Oriental Studies.

Russian Indologists do not expect any drastic changes in India's foreign policy, but do not rule out shifts in some areas that may be of importance to Russia.

Better Indo-Chinese relations would pave the way to closer cooperation in the India-Russia-China triangle.

"I do hope that trilateral interaction will grow stronger under a Congress-led Government," Dr. Shaumyan said.

The fourth meeting of Indian, Russian and Chinese scholars will take place in Moscow in September under what has come to be known as track-II triangular diplomacy.

Another area where scholars see room for closer cooperation is Central Asia.

"Unless Russia and India work jointly to eliminate the post-Soviet vacuum in Central Asia it may be filled by other nations, such as Pakistan and Iran," said Dr. Yurlov.

"India, like Russia, has a strategic stake in the region, which has a large Muslim population and is rich in mineral resources."

He also called for India's closer involvement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which unites Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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