The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Global action against terrorism should be concerted and united: Putin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 03, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Leader Page Articles

Global action against terrorism should be concerted and united: Putin

By Amit Baruah

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is not a leader who flinches from answering difficult questions. In a written response to questions provided by The Hindu, President Putin does not believe that it is possible, in principle, to create a unipolar system of international relations. Mr. Putin, who will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, stressed that Russia was prepared to contribute to the enhancing of India's energy stability. He had no doubt in his mind that the strategic partnership between India and Russia would be strengthened under the Congress-led Government. Excerpts from the written response:

Question: You will be meeting a Prime Minister from the Congress party for the first time. Will this have a bearing on the strategic relationship between India and Russia?

Vladimir Putin: In fact, I have already met Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2002. He was then a member of the INC [Indian National Congress] working committee and participated in our meeting with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, president of the INC.

I would like to say that Dr. Manmohan Singh is well known in Russia. He is one of those, who could be called [the] "young guards" of Jawaharlal Nehru, who is highly respected in our country and who, in many respects, played a decisive role in successful economic reforms in India.

At the same time, I would like to stress that the current level of Russian-Indian partnership cannot and should not depend on internal transformations, which are quite natural to democratic states. Our countries are already interacting along a clear-cut line, and all the leading political actors of India, including, certainly, the INC, have made a valuable contribution to its development. We have no doubt that the new Indian leadership will continue to pursue that course.

As we are aware, Dr. Singh is strongly committed to the policy of developing friendly relations with Russia. And I am looking forward to new, major progress in Russian-Indian cooperation, after the meeting in New Delhi.

India and Russia are set to expand their cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Can you give us some details of what is envisaged?

Russia and India have expanded cooperation in the field of oil industry. In doing so, they expect that investments would go not only to Russia. Implementation of projects in India is also scheduled. As a successful example of Indian-Russian cooperation, I could quote the ... Sakhalin-1 project.

On its part, India is working on an international tender for the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas reserves in the shelf of the Gulf of Bengal. Gazprom joint stock company, which is a leading and, no doubt, most stable Russian company, could participate in that project ...

What is most important is to strengthen partnership between India and Russia in the field of energy, which is in the mutual interest of both economies. Presently, India imports up to 73 per cent of oil. It is well known that the new Government of India aims at achieving eight per cent annual economic growth. Hence, in the near term, fuel and energy requirements of the country are going to increase. Russia, being a long-term and traditional partner of India, is prepared to contribute to enhancing energy stability of the developing Indian economy, to the development of its fuel and energy sector.

The whole world watched with horror the killing of schoolchildren by Chechen terrorists in Beslan in September. What steps have you taken internally to deal with the menace?

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for the support rendered by the Indian people, [and the] Government of India in connection with the monstrous crime in Beslan. Those who tortured and shut children in Beslan are killers who are members of the "terrorist international". They do not and cannot have any excuses.

India, having experienced the grief of its recent history, has realised the monstrous and horrible character of terror. Eminent citizens of your country, their recognised leaders, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Mr. Rajiv Gandhi were killed. Thousands of innocent people became victims of terror. Courage displayed by the Indian people who managed to overcome those tragedies and unite to resist terrorism will be a leading example for all of us.

One opinion is evident: the Beslan experience cannot but produce certain conclusions. International terrorism has declared a war. And we are obliged to meet that challenge and to protect adequately sovereignty and integrity of our countries, life and peace of our citizens. This should be a systematic activity. First, we should improve the efficiency of law enforcement bodies and special services. Their work should be commensurate with the tasks faced today by the whole society and special services in particular. Moreover, the interaction mechanisms, ways and means, working methods and modalities of law enforcement bodies should be commensurate with the nature and scope of the threats faced by Russia.

Second, measures to strengthen the unity of national executive bodies have been elaborated and partially implemented. I would like to emphasise that steps have been taken to consolidate democracy, federalism and civil society, as well as to promote the growth of major national political parties. I am convinced that it is only a politically structured and mature society that is able to form a responsible and workable power structure and to effectively counteract such threats as extremism, terrorism and separatism.

We intend to continue to use preventive methods against terrorists. However, our actions will be in strict compliance with the Russian legal and constitutional norms and rules of international law. In general, the whole range of activities to enhance the security of Russian citizens and to guarantee their constitutional rights will certainly be based on full respect for democratic values, consolidation and development of democratic institutions. It is for this specific purpose that the Russian Public Chamber is being created. It will be entrusted with civil expertise of major governmental decisions.

The problem of terrorism did not emerge on September 11, 2001, and is not limited to the U.S. and Western Europe. India and Russia, on their part, made statements against the policy of "double standards" in the fight against terrorism.

Of course, the problem of terrorism emerged not on September 11 and is in no way limited to Western Europe and the U.S. Terrorism is a global and destructive phenomenon affecting all states and societies, bringing death to all people in the world.

There can be no "double standards" in the fight against terrorism; otherwise this struggle would become ineffective or meaningless. Russia and India both have a common understanding of this fundamental principle.

However, not all of our partners demonstrate understanding of such seemingly apparent facts. Here, may I be permitted to make a stiff [strong] comment. As you are aware, one of the leaders of Chechen terrorists — A. Zakaev — continues to travel freely across European countries. The U.S. authorities gave safe haven to another envoy of terrorists — I. Akhmadov.

Providing safe haven and support to terrorists, their accomplices and sponsors actually serves as a justification and, indeed, encouragement of their crimes. In our view, a tolerant attitude towards Zakaev, Maskhadov, Akhmadov and the like is an apparent recurrence of the notorious "double standards." Such steps undermine the unity and mutual trust of the participants of the anti-terrorist front.

May I remind you that according to U.N. decisions, states are obliged to verify, when providing asylum, that the person in question is not related to terrorism. However, somebody influenced by stereotypes or — which is particularly dangerous — hoping to get questionable political dividends, prefers to turn a blind eye to apparent facts.

Do you believe that the invasion of Iraq detracted from the larger fight against international terrorism? The failure to nab Osama bin Laden and his continued threats are a sign that the Al-Qaeda network is alive and kicking. Your comments.

We are alarmed by a difficult and dramatic situation in Iraq. Terrorist activities there are not diminishing while peaceful Iraqis and citizens of other states become victims of violence. This is the threat Russia repeatedly warned the U.S. and their allies about before the action taken against the [Saddam] Hussein regime. As predicted, after his fall Iraq and the whole world did not become more safe and secure.

One should understand that terrorist and extremist groups of all stripes, including Al-Qaeda, are now actively using to their benefit the difficult situation that persists in Iraq for their cynical and criminal interests. As had been the case with Afghanistan, Iraq turned into a major hotbed of a terrorist threat, a firing ground and "incubator" for militants. It is here and now that thousands of future terrorists are being recruited by terrorist networks. Those forces, most probably, can be employed in other regions of the world.

There is yet another essential aspect worth speaking about. Differences over Iraq, and they were, I would remind you, rather considerable, and existed between the leading participants of the international anti-terrorist coalition, led to a significant slowdown of the development of international anti-terrorist interaction. Hence, it is of crucial importance that the activities aimed at combating "the terrorist international" be reduced to a common denominator. Actions undertaken by world community to counteract terrorism should start from international law, be concerted and united. Only in this case will those endeavours bring up a necessary outcome required by all [the entire] human race — that is victory over terrorism.

Russia has consistently supported the thesis that the situation in Iraq be settled through establishing a nation-wide dialogue in order to reach national accord and reconciliation. The United Nations already assisting the Iraqis to prepare for the first general elections should play a meaningful role in achieving that objective. We believe that successful elections held within the period specified in U.N. Security Council resolution 1546 would be of fundamental importance. Iraq and Russia have been good neighbours. And we are prepared to make our contribution to the reconstruction and revival of that country as a unified, stable and prosperous state.

Shortly before the U.S. Presidential elections, you extended support to George. W. Bush's candidature on the ground that his defeat would lead to the spread of terrorism to other parts of the world. Do you believe that President Bush, in his second term, will be less unilateral in his actions? Or are we likely to see the repeat of another Iraq somewhere else?

Certainly, Russia followed the recent U.S. Presidential election with great interest and attention. It is only natural since progress in our bilateral relations and interaction in international affairs depend also on the approach taken by the U.S. leaders.

We have repeatedly stated that we were prepared to work with any administration that would enjoy confidence of the American people. At the same time, the recent achievements in U.S.-Russian relations became possible to a large extent thanks to the constructive policy pursued by George Bush — politician and statesman whom we consider to be our reliable partner and ally in the war against terrorism. It is because of that I took the greatest pleasure to congratulate him for his well-deserved victory. I am convinced that under the second term of [the] George Bush administration, Russian-American cooperation will be no less dynamic and fruitful.

This does not mean that there are no differences between the U.S. and Russia; however, we resolve them through dialogue taking into account our countries' long-term interests. We build our relations based on developing equal and mutually advantageous ties, jointly dealing with new challenges and threats, first of all those relating to international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, organised crime and drug-trafficking.

Those global challenges and threats of the new millennium can only be met collectively. There is a growing understanding of this evident fact globally. Developments in Iraq have once again proved that unilateral actions are counter-productive. I will be frank: in my talks with many foreign leaders I used to hear the following question: "If global affairs are to be dealt with according to the `Iraqi model', how can we guarantee our countries' security and sovereignty?" We have repeatedly called our American partners' attention to this reality. And eventually, they realised the need to reach a political settlement in Iraq using the U.N. mechanisms. I believe that the new administration will undoubtedly bear in mind "Iraqi lessons" when determining its foreign policy.

There has been a lot of talk of multilateralism and multipolarity, but the world looks more unipolar than before. Is Russia capable of and interested in taking on a leadership role in restoring some kind of balance in global strategic affairs?

I do not think it is possible, in principle, to create a unipolar system of international relations. Interdependence of states and interdependence of national economies are growing. Most civilisation development factors — both negative and positive — are acquiring a global character. No single state, even the most powerful one, can cope alone with terrorism, numerous local conflicts, social diseases and, thus, is not able to provide global stability and progress. All those problems can only be solved through multilateral cooperation under the U.N. auspices. Russia is ready to make its contribution; moreover, it is contributing constructively to this common work.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

VIEW WITH EQUANIMITY

PAROCHIALISM AT ITS WORST

Global action against terrorism should be concerted and united: Putin