In a constantly changing world, one of the few unchanging realities has been strong Indo-Russian relations""except perhaps in name from Indo-Soviet relations. In times of need the two countries have stood by each other. So it comes as no surprise that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow has culminated in several positives. Chief amongst these is the Russian assurance that India can expect unstinted assistance from it in building up nuclear energy capability. In the years to come, with oil becoming scarce and expensive and gas becoming less easy to come by, India may have to turn more to nuclear-generated electric power. Coal has the disadvantage of being polluting and even if plans of coal gasification take off, it is unlikely that they will meet more than a fraction of India's energy needs. Hydro power has additional potential, but not in peninsular India, which is mostly far away from the coal mines and is the fastest- growing region in the country. Ordinarily, given Russia's gigantic resources of oil and gas, India could have, like Britain recently, bought these, but both distance and obstructionism by countries which lie between Russia and India are a problem. So should India decide to go in substantially for nuclear power, Russian willingness to help will be a great boon. If to this is added the long-standing defence co-operation between the two countries, it becomes very clear how important Russia is to India and vice-versa. The Prime Minister's visit has thus only once again underscored a well-established fact of international relations. | |
| If one peers into the future, Russia's importance to India, even in non-economic matters, remains undiluted. With its long history of having been a global power, Russia's ability to act as an interlocutor or convener cannot be over emphasised. Like India, it shares a huge border with China, and has reasons to view the dramatic surge in Chinese economic and military power with a degree of circumspection. Russia and India will have to work together to keep Chinese ambitions, which are not circumscribed by the exigencies of democracy, in check. This will have to be done at several levels, not the least of which is arriving at mutually convenient and beneficial accommodation with the US. Russia has a very close working relationship with the US now, and with India increasing the depth of its engagement with the US, the three countries should be able to work well together. Specifically, India's national interest lies in nullifying Chinese attempts""successful so far""to confine India to the subcontinent. Towards this end, the general public perception in India is that the US can be an ambiguous friend, given its policy towards Pakistan, but Russia is not limited by such ambiguity and can be counted upon to come down on India's side whenever the occasion demands. In this context the greatest medium-term interest to India is its quest to become a permanent member of the Security Council. The question is, can it take Russian help in this regard for granted? |
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