Opinion - Editorials   

Time-tested friendship

The long-standing strategic partnership between India and Russia was reaffirmed once again during the visit of Premier Mikhail Fradkov. While seven agreements were signed on the occasion, the primary focus was on Moscow's promise to supply uranium fuel for the safeguarded reactors of the Tarapur power station. A pact to seal this particular deal was not necessary since the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) allow for the transfer of uranium fuel for safety reasons. Russia had relied on this provision when it made supplies for the first time in 2001. This does not, however, mean that the other members of the NSG will not complain, as they did on the last occasion, about the guidelines being violated. New Delhi and Moscow should be well aware that they cannot get on the wrong side of the major nuclear powers in the present circumstances. The United States administration had just initiated efforts to convince Congress to make India-specific exceptions in the anti-proliferation statutes. Washington also has its work cut out as it tries to sell the June 18 deal to the rest of the NSG. New Delhi's stakes in the deal to ease the supply of nuclear-related equipment and material are obvious enough. Moscow too would stand to gain if the NSG guidelines are redrawn since it could become a major player in India's nuclear power programme, the Koodankulam plant standing as a model of cooperation in this field.

The agreement between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Russian Federal Space Agency on the joint development of the Glonass-K navigation satellites adds to the record of significant cooperation in this technologically challenging sphere. So does the agreement between the two organisations to launch Glonass-M satellites by a variant of the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. The efforts by the two countries to develop synergies in the field of conventional energy should get a boost from the memorandum of understanding between the Indian Oil Corporation and Stroytransgaz for pursuing petro-infrastructure projects worldwide through a consortium. India should seriously explore ways of involving Russia in the construction of the proposed gas pipeline that will run from Iran through Pakistan. Moscow has good relations with all the countries that will benefit from this project and is unlikely to place political obstacles. Russian companies might also offer better terms than some of the competitors. The one sphere in which the Indo-Russian interaction is way below the optimum is economy, especially bilateral trade. The joint study group set up to draft a comprehensive agreement will, hopefully, make recommendations for achieving the trade target of $10 billion over the next five years. Meanwhile, the Governments should work at removing the hurdles in the way of closer interaction between the businessmen of the two countries.

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

Stories in this Section

Time-tested friendship
Digital networks to aid research
A new twist to the growth debate
The problems of profusion
Judged by higher standards
Concern in the earthquake zone
Eta now ready to give up the gun
Victims to sue Qadhafi over IRA bombs
Another turnaround
Jaya's disqualification
MPLADS scam
E.C.'s order
Heartening

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu