India-Russia ties should adapt to changing times: Manmohan

In a clear attempt to allay Russia’s apprehensions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said it will remain an “indispensable” partner for India’s defence needs even as he underlined that the bilateral ties should adapt to changing times to address challenges.

Dr. Singh hailed the India-Russia relations, saying it is marked by “abiding comfort with each other” and the warmth and goodwill between the people ensure that the strategic partnership will continue to grow in strength and relevance in the changing world.

He highlighted various elements of partnership covering the fields of nuclear energy, defence, hydrocarbons and trade besides cooperation in international matters to portray the promising future for the relationship.

“Even this brief overview of the fruits of our cooperation should be enough to justify fully the description of our relationship as a special and privileged strategic partnership,” Dr. Singh said in his address at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Noting that observers may well ask how this relationship could be taken to greater heights,” he said, “I am convinced that while the strength and the intensity of our relationship will remain undiminished, it must also adapt itself to the changing times so that we can address the full range of current opportunities and challenges. I am also sure that, as in the past, we shall face these challenges together.”

At the bilateral level, the Prime Minister said, “while Russia will remain an indispensable partner for our defence needs, our future defence partnership must be increasingly based on technology transfer, joint ventures and co-development and co-production.”

The statement assumes significance as India has lately been looking at new vendors like the U.S. and Israel for its military hardware, creating apprehensions in Russia which has been long-standing major supplier of the defence equipment.

“We also see Russia as a key partner for our energy security. We have an ambitious long-term plan of cooperation in nuclear energy. The programme of cooperation in hydrocarbons that we are drawing up will further intensify our partnership in oil and gas and renewable energy sources,” he said.

Acknowledging that Russia has stood by India at moments of great international challenge, when its own resources were limited and friends were few, Dr. Singh said, “beyond all the assistance that we have received, it is this last fact that Indians will never forget“.

The Prime Minister said that the people of India regard Russian friendship and support as something particularly precious.

Dr. Singh stressed that over the past six decades, no country has had closer relations with India and no country inspires more admiration, trust and confidence among the people of India than Russia.

Highlighting the cooperation between India and Russia, Dr. Singh pointed out that Russia was the first country with which, in 2000, India signed a Declaration of Strategic Partnership and began the process of annual summits.

Describing India’s relationship with Russia as “unmatched by any other relationship”, Dr. Singh cited examples of defence cooperation like the soon to be commissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, the nuclear submarine INS Chakra leased to India by Russia and the joint development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft and the Brahmos Cruise Missile.

“Russia offered us partnership in nuclear energy when the world still shunned nuclear commerce with us…the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, built with Russian assistance, went critical in July this year and that the second one should be commissioned early next year,” he said.

Dr. Singh pointed out that the Indian oil company ONGC’s largest overseas presence is in Russia and India’s largest science and technology cooperation programme is also with Russia.

Noting that sustained expansion of trade and investment flows had added a new dimension to the bilateral relationship, Dr. Singh said, “We should harness the full potential of our two economies to impart even greater depth and dynamism to it.”

“The unprecedented level of growth in tourism between India and Russia not only brings us economic benefits, but also deepens the contact between our peoples,” he said.

Dr. Singh highlighted that one of the fundamental foundations of India’s foreign policy is its partnership with Russia.

“We are both impacted by developments in our common neighbourhood, making our strategic partnership even more relevant than ever before,” he said.