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India, Russia Agree on Fighting Terrorism
Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee arrived in Moscow Monday afternoon.
India's ambassador K Raghunath told reporters that the declaration on international terrorism, to be signed Tuesday, would reflect their "close, corresponding views" on the issue.
Deputy PM of the Russian Federation Ilya Klebanov went a step ahead when he said the declaration would fully reflect the joint expectations of both the countries. He did not stop at that.
The position of New Delhi and Moscow on the Afghan conflict, on its regional impact and on the worldwide efforts to eliminate terrorism were "absolutely identical", he said.
Klebanov said India and Russia wanted the situation in Afghanistan to evolve in such a way that it would no longer be a hotbed of terrorism. Afghanistan, in the eyes of both, had to become a "normal civilised country once again".
He said Russia and India had both been victims of terrorism for several years, but the world had paid no attention to their experience.
Their warning about the dangers of terrorism had been ignored. But now the world acknowledges that the warnings had "strong intentions".
Indian officials, speaking to Times News Network, said Russia has shown complete understanding of India's stand on Kashmir but it believed that a dialogue with Pakistan could be taken up once terrorism encouraged from the other side of the border ceased.
Earlier in St. Petersburg, Vajpayee told a group of Indologists the terrorist attacks on the US had highlighted the full face of this new menace to all peace-loving and right-thinking people around the world.
the global reach of terrorism and reminded us that the fight against this threat will also have international cooperation.
"When terrorism takes the shape of religious extremism, its destructive power increases manifold," Vajpayee said.
Meanwhile, as evidence that they are adding a new dimension to their bilateral relations, the two countries are signing agreements and documents covering diversified areas like banking, education, culture, science and technology.
The political dialogue between Vajpayee and President Putin is scheduled to take place Tuesday. According to Klebanov, both leaders will speak a "common language".
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