Ibne Siraj :
At least one thing has become clear from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India that the iron man gives much importance on his apparent determination to counter the impact of Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine issue. To be more precise, Putin wants to deepen Russia’s ties with the Asian countries as well as the South Asian region. During the recent visit of Putin to India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has most delightedly posed as nailing his colors firmly to the mast, intending to drag India into the 21st century through an expansion of business ties with foreign partners, encouraging inbound investment and a radical program of modernization at home. This is perhaps a test case for Modi, who will be judged at the next election by a generation of young Indians seeking jobs and his country looking for a sweetly rise in living standards across the board as well as an influential political role internationally, especially in Asia. With all realties, positive and negative, in and around, Modi cannot afford to go down as he foresees pragmatism is the order of the time.
At the same time, Putin is seeking to restore Russia’s former prowess on the global stage as he faces a huge challenge at home due to the Western sanctions.
Since his nationalist constituency will not allow him to back down, Putin must throw his eyes beyond the boundary for allies and his recent attempts to improve ties first with China, and now with India and Pakistan have earned for him a positive result. While ties between India and Russia weakened for some years, rebuilding relations with Russia at this point dovetails perfectly with Modi’s desire to get the most out of all from India’s global stakes for the benefit of his domestic reform agenda with, of course, the exception of its nuclear armed neighbor Pakistan. Putin also knows what it is like to be shunned by the West.
The two leaders have already met twice both at the BRICS summit in Brazil and the G20 in Australia. The way Putin offered his rare smile with a very divinely sweet exposure to Modi, it has been proved once again that the chemistry between the two leaders is worthy enough. All the signs show that they understand each other’s respective visions and the need for lasting, mutually beneficial economic ties without political strings attached.
Their common ground is easily defined. India has a nearly insatiable demand for energy. Since little has come of India’s nuclear deal with the US, Putin has now seized his opportunity. Russia will build 12 nuclear reactors over 20 years in southern India. Modi needs oil, gas and coal as well.
It is an ideal opportunity for Russia to supply India with low priced liquefied natural gas, especially after the end of the South Stream pipeline to the EU. Russia will also invest in India’s infrastructure and increase diamond sales. Military cooperation is expected to focus on the development of a new fighter jet and a transport aircraft. So much for Washington’s warning to Modi is that he should resist an expansion of trade with Russia at this time.
From Modi’s perspective, the present level of bilateral trade with Moscow totaling a mere 10 billion USD annually is only a fraction of trade volumes between Russian and China, and the Indian PM needs more trade to achieve his goals. Against this background, it has appeared quite happily that the Modi-Putin summit has shaped lasting ties between the two countries while their improved relations have offered Putin an alternative to reliance on markets in the West.
Modi’s expanded smile exposing all the milky teeth between his white moustache and beard proved aptly what really he wants from Russia. As Putin landed in the Indian capital, Modi stepped up somewhat hurriedly, shook hands warmly with him and expressed his firm confidence that this visit will take their bilateral relations to “newer heights.” “Delighted to welcome President Putin to India. Looking forward to a productive visit that will take India, Russia ties to newer heights,” Modi tweeted in Russian ahead of his talks with Putin on close strategic ties particularly in the fields of nuclear energy, hydrocarbons and defence.
“Times have changed, now we want to take this relation to the next level and this visit is a step in that direction,” he said in a post on the micro-blogging site.
Before leaving for New Delhi, Putin termed ties with India as “privileged strategic partnership” and said construction of new nuclear plants besides military and technical deals was high on the agenda for talks.
He said Russia was keen to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India and involve ONGC in oil and gas hunt in the Arctic.
Energy-starved India, the third largest oil importer after the US and China, is pushing for more engagement in major gas and oil exploration projects in Russia.
A little earlier, the United States said it would not impact President Barack Obama’s trip to India in January but warned now was not the right time to do business with Russia. “It is possible to have good ties with multiple countries even when we disagree on things,” State Department Deputy Press Secretary Marie Harf told reporters. “But again, it is not, to my knowledge, impacting any visits one way or the other,” said Harf when asked about Putin’s visit to India. Obama is also scheduled to visit India to attend the annual Republic Day celebrations as chief guest in January. “First, let’s wait and see what comes from the visit. I know there is a lot of rumours, often of trade deals or economic deals, but let’s see what is actually put into practice here,” said Harf.
“What we have said before, now is not the time for business as usual with Russia. We have conveyed this certainly to our allies and to our partners across the world,” she said. On India-US civil nuclear cooperation, Harf said the two sides have renewed their commitments to fully implement the cooperation agreement, to find a way to allow US-origin reactors to eventually be built in India.
“The two leaders also agreed in their joint statement to establish a contact group for advancing the implementation of civil nuclear energy cooperation, which will address administrative issues, liability, technical issues, licensing, and other topics as required. So there’s a path forward here for this to keep moving,” Harf said.
Putin’s visit is the first full-fledged summit between the two countries after Modi took office in New Delhi. About 15 important bilateral deals have reportedly been signed, including some in the field of military-technical cooperation. To put the visit in perspective, it is important to take stock of certain international developments relating to Russia, which have preceded this visit.
The most overbearing issue is the state of Russian economy, reeling under the triple blow from US-European Union (EU) sanctions, falling price of oil, which is Russia’s major source of income, and the impact of fast depreciating Russian currency, coupled with the flight of foreign capital from the country.
Amidst all these problems Putin facing at home, his diplomacy has succeeded in refreshing Russia-Pakistan ties with signing their first military agreement laying out future avenues of cooperation in this domain.
Sergei Shoigu, the first Russian defence minister to visit Pakistan since 1969, after signing the agreement said the joint naval exercises would be a key feature of future ties with Pakistan, besides military officer exchanges, arms sales and counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism cooperation. “Bilateral military cooperation is expected to have a more practical orientation and enhance the combat capability of the armed forces of the two countries,” he also said.
