India, Russia to Declare Strategic PartnershipRussian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Dehli Monday evening for a four-day visit to India, during which he will sign with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee a declaration of strategic partnership, the most important document reached between New Delhi and Moscow.The declaration, Russian officials reportedly said, "is intended to impart a qualitatively new character to our close and constructive cooperation as well as lay out the long-term approaches in the third millennium." The declaration itself will be a novel word in Russian-Indian relations as well as a weighty statement of the two sides in support of the formation of a multipolar world order, which should be created on equal and mutually beneficial basis. The two sides are set to sign over a dozen more agreements in the fields of defense and space research, science and technology, information and economic cooperation, and culture and education during Putin's visit, the first by a Russian president in seven years. A Russian presidential visit, due for several years, could not materialize because of the ill-health of Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin, who was here in 1993 last time. It has been evident over the years that there are no essential problems in the development of political relations between the two countries, both shared a view of a joint struggle against international terrorism and of opposition to the domination of one country or a group of countries over others. India, on various occasions in the past, expressed its disapproval of the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and wanted the Russian concerns taken into account. As a matter of fact, analysts here said, what have brought them closer are some of their domestic challenges, economic development and internal security, Russia's difficulties with secessionists in Chechnya and India's problem in the disputed Kashmir. Truly, positions taken by New Delhi and Moscow on nuclear issues + India's nuclear tests in 1998, non-proliferation measures and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) + are divergent, but Russia has not let it cast a shadow over the multifaceted cooperation with the South Asian country, a strategic ally during the cold-war years. Russia, the first permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to Back New Delhi's claim to accommodation in this body, went ahead with its plans to set up nuclear power plants in India. Putin's visit is seen here as a continuation of a process that began with the bilateral Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation signed in August 1971, which was replaced with a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation following the demise of the Soviet Union. Due to the challenges of economic development faced by both Russia and India, leaders of the two countries are keen to enhance cooperations, which have been on the decline since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991. Official sources here said that both side will take care to ensure that strategic partnership between the two countries is not meant to be directed against any other country or to establish a military or political alliance. It is expected that the two countries will extend agreement on long-term cooperation in science and technology and on military and technical cooperation both by another ten years. The two sides have already agreed on a similar ten-year extension for military cooperation + a broad document covering licensed production of planes, tanks and warships in India and Russia. Plans to supply Russia's SU-30 planes and tanks and for upgrading MIG-21s are in final stages of negotiation. Related agreement are expected to be signed during Putin's visit. |
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