By Nilova Roy Chaudhury
Panaji, Goa. The fog, which delayed the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Goa October 15, lifted “triumfantly” after the warm handshake at his summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the agreement for India to buy five S-400 missile defence shield systems (“Triumf”) from Russia.
President Putin’s arrival in Goa to attend the BRICS Summit was delayed due to poor visibility with thick fog making it difficult for his plane to land in the coastal state. But the visibility cleared dramatically after the 17th India-Russia summit, with close to 10 billion dollars in a variety of defence deals being agreed upon and announced.
The meeting with the Russian President flagged off the Indian Prime Minister’s packed weekend of diplomatic engagement and the proceedings for the 17th bilateral summit on the sidelines of the eighth BRICS summit, which India is hosting.
BRICS, an association of five major emerging economies, comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS has a primarily economic agenda, seeking a reform of the world’s financial institutions to ensure better representation for the developing economies.
Increasingly, as the five countries work in sync, the political agenda has also assumed importance, with BRICS providing a crucial pillar in a multi-polar world. The current summit assumes significance as it comes at a time when relations between India and Pakistan have deteriorated dangerously in the wake of the terrorist attack on an army base in Uri and subsequently declared ‘surgical strikes’ conducted by the Indian Army to take out terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC).
The Indian Prime Minister held one on one followed by delegation-level talks with President Putin before both the leaders delivered a joint statement detailing the partnership between the two countries. Both Mr Modi and President Putin also witnessed the laying of the foundation for units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam nuclear plant via video conferencing.
After their two-hour long talks, which began with a warm handshake, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a total of 16 agreements, including the Rs. 39,000 crore deal to procure Moscow’s most advanced anti-aircraft defence system – S 400 “Triumf”, which will provide India a ballistic missile shield.
The agreements focused mostly on the defence, energy, power, shipbuilding and space sectors. The defence deals include the purchase of the S-400 missile systems (known as the “Growler” in NATO nomenclature), joint production of Ka-226T (“Kamov”) helicopters, and the acquisition and joint production of four state of the art Admiral Grigorovich-class (Project 11356) guided-missile stealth frigates.
The “Kamov” helicopter deal is a key deal, being seen as a huge boost for the government’s flagship “Make in India” initiative. India will initially import and then manufacture Russian Kamov Ka-226 T light utility helicopters.
The two countries have also agreed to conduct an annual military conference.
India’s decision to go ahead with the big ticket defence deals comes at a stage when New Delhi wants to ensure that Moscow does not look in the direction of Pakistan to boost its defence cooperation. India was not happy that Russia recently conducted its first ever joint military exercises with Pakistan.
The range of deals signed October 15 is meant to ensure that Moscow does not stray in the direction of Islamabad. The strong statements against “cross-border†terrorism emanating from President Putin suggest that the incentives worked to India’s satisfaction, as the two close allies resolved to unitedly fight the scourge of terrorism.
Appreciating Russia’s “unequivocal condemnation” of the cross-border terrorist attack on the army base at Uri, Mr Modi said, “Russia” clear stand on the need to combat terrorism mirrors our own. We deeply appreciate Russia’s understanding and support of our actions to fight cross-border terrorism, that threatens our entire region. We both affirmed the need for zero tolerance in dealing with terrorists and their supporters, the Indian PM said in his statement to the media after their talks.
The Indian PM received strong support from Russian President Putin, who said after his summit meeting with Modi on Saturday that Russia unequivocally condemned cross-border acts of terrorism against India, while expressing “strong support” for India in its fight against “cross-border” terrorism.
“We want to fight terrorism together, we all will collectively work on it,” Putin reiterated while speaking at the BRICS outreach session on October 16.
In another significant decision, “We have agreed to work on an annual military industrial conference that will allow stakeholders on both sides to institute and push collaboration,†said PM Modi.
Describing Russia as an “old friend of India,” Mr Modi said the “highly productive” outcomes of the meeting clearly establish the special and privileged nature of strategic partnership between the two countries.
“They also lay the foundations for deeper defence and economic ties in years ahead. The agreements on manufacturing of Kamov 226T helicopters; constructions of frigates; and acquisition and building of other defence platforms are in synergy with India’s technology and security priorities,” the Indian PM said.
“With proposed construction of another eight reactors, our wide ranging cooperation in nuclear energy is set to bring rich dividends for both of us,” Mr Modi said.
Mr. Putin highlighted Russia’s “stable” approach to ties with India. He said his government would ensure steady energy cooperation with India to support the expanding Indian economy.
“Sometimes differences appear in some projects over a period due to currency devaluation. But we commit to maintain a steady approach to bilateral projects with India,” said Mr. Putin. “We are also working on joint development of Sukhoi super jets and passenger aircraft,” the Russian President said.
India is the world’s leading importer of defence hardware, currently undergoing a $100-billion upgrade of its mostly Soviet-era military equipment. Among the erstwhile Soviet Union’s closest military allies during the Cold War and a major importer of its military hardware, India has, in recent years, begun diversifying its sources of military purchases.
Russia and India also plan to closely work in the area of energy and infrastructure. They signed a deal to pave the way for a group led by Russian oil major Rosneft to acquire a stake India’s Essar Oil, for a massive 5.5 billion dollars.
“One old friend is better than two new ones,” the Indian Prime Minister said, using an old Russian proverb to describe the solid, seven decade long friendship with Moscow, dating back to the Soviet era.
The two leaders also witnessed the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on developing smart cities, transport logistics, shipbuilding and railways in Andhra Pradesh, and cooperation in oil and gas among others.
The Putin-Modi meeting preceded the BRICS summit, with Indian officials working on the Goa Declaration pushing for stronger language on terrorism as a common challenge to find its way into the final document.
India’s Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar later asserted that both India and Russia condemn terrorism in all its ‘forms and manifestations’ and said Russia would ‘never do anything’ against Indian interests.
“Russia will never do anything that is not in the interest of our welfare. Russia understands India’s interest and will never do anything which is contrary to India’s interest,” Foreign Secretary Jaishankar said.
”Terrorism is a global issue. The [country that is the] epicentre of terrorism is near India. But the actions of that country [Pakistan] are having global impacts. We agreed on the need to have an international legal framework on terrorism and better border management’ said Mr. Jaishankar.
Speaking at a briefing to the media, the Foreign Secretary said, “the sense of the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Russia President Putin was that the relationship has really progressed well in the last nine months.”
