Cooperazione russo-indiana

[Lupus in Fabula]

Indian Ambassador to Russia: Russia remains our number one priority when it comes to our defence cooperation with foreign countries

Your Excellency, Mr Ambassador. Thank you very much for this exclusive interview to Interfax. We are delighted that we have this opportunity to hear from you first hand on India-Russia relations. India and Russia have earlier set a target of achieving a bilateral trade volume of US $ 10 billion by 2010. Do you think that the current global economic crisis will adversely affect the situation? Or, do you think that the planned trade target can still be achieved?

I must say that I take an optimistic view on this. I believe we are certainly on the track to achieve the objective. Frankly, the current economic difficulties are actually also an opportunity for us to work more closely. My own hope is that at the Summit meeting in Delhi in December this year this is going to be one of the most important subjects that will be discussed. There is a level of comfort in general in dealings between India with Russia, and I am very happy that the private sectors in both countries are getting increasingly engaged. These are very positive trends, and very welcome developments. So I really am very optimistic

Do you think that India and Russia can cooperate to combat the global financial crisis? What are the possible schemes and forms for such cooperation?

The answer is a categorical yes. In contrast to both the European and East Asian economies, the Indian and Russian economies are relatively less exposed to global financial markets and trends. In India, for example, our foreign trade accounts for about 35% of our GDP. The bulk of our growth, and the bulk of our GDP, is the result of domestic demand, and so our domestic consumption and domestic investments account for around 65-70% of our GDP. In Russia, the numbers are only a little higher, but not by much – in Russia's case that figure is around 45%. What this means is that the engines for growth in both our countries are essentially domestic demand, our own consumption and investment.

Of course there is a slowdown, and this should be expected, but I think it will be less significant than in the other economies which are much more exposed to the global scene. This, as it seems to me, provides a very welcome opportunity for us bilaterally, and this takes us back to to your first question. I think there is a great deal of promise in India and Russia working together in this area. I will give you just one example. I noticed that President Medvedev in his recent address to the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs stressed the importance of outsourcing. Now who is the best in the world in terms of outsourcing? India. In the current situation, all the companies need to cut their costs, and there is enormous benefit for Russian companies to look at Indian companies for outsourcing. This subject was discussed and examined in detail in the United States because they have some doubts about the value of outsourcing. What they found out was that for every dollar they spent on outsourcing in India resulted in two dollars' saving for them. So in these times of economic difficulties, it seems to me that Indian outsourcing is a value proposition for Russian companies as well. Furthermore, today Russian companies are of a size and complexity that enables them to benefit from outsourcing to India. So I am sincerely hoping that we can work together in this promising area. When the Summit meeting takes place this December in India, there will be an important business element in the President’s program, and that for the Business delegation with him, and we will try and promote this idea. I think this will result in a win-win situation for both sides.

Mr Ambassador, you mentioned the forthcoming visit of the Russian President to India. What are going to be the main topics and the main events of this visit?

India-Russia relations cover practically every sphere of human activity: politics, culture, defence, trade, economics, investments, space exploration, and nuclear cooperation. All of these subjects are likely to be on the agenda. This is the uniqueness in India-Russia relations –what we do with Russia we do not do with any other country, and what Russia does with us it does not do with any other country. This uniqueness has emerged over several decades of our friendship and partnership.

Do you expect that some economic contracts will be signed as a result of the summit in December?

If you are talking about commercial business-to-business contracts, I am not fully aware of that yet, but we are still working on the package of inter-governmental agreements, and I believe there will be a number of very substantive agreements that will be signed during the visit.

The year 2009 is to be the Year of India in Russia. What will be the key events of this year? Can we await any high level bilateral visits in 2009?

The answer is yes. We are expecting a senior dignitary from India for the Inaugural ceremony of Year of India in Russia which will take place some time in February next year. We are planning for a grand opening ceremony. As to the substance of what we are planning to do, we have more or less finalized our plans for the first half of 2009, and we will do it for the second half in a couple of weeks. Our effort certainly is going to be to reach out to the youth in Russia. People of my generation in India know Russia very well, and knew the Soviet Union very well. Likewise, people of the older generation in Russia know India very well, and have a lot of cultural exposure to India. The younger generation is reasonably well aware, but not that much. So we are going to try and bring Indian cultural items which will appeal to the younger generation.

Secondly, what we are certainly going to try to do is to take steps that help transcend the language barrier. We cannot do this 100% because there are a few areas where language will be invariably needed such as films, for example, and we are certainly going to do films next year - we hope to revive the tradition when the Russians were very eager to see Indian movies not long ago. However, we will try to promote projects that do not need the language: music, art shows, and so on and so forth. Indian art has established itself very well globally, as has Indian cuisine globally. You don't need language to enjoy these things. That is the sort of thing we are planning to do.

One of the main elements of our bilateral cooperation is energy. Is India happy with the level of Russia-India cooperation in this field? Is India interested in cooperation within the Sakhalin-3 project?

We are happy with the way things are at the moment, but that does not mean that we are not planning more ambitious areas for cooperation. The direct answer to your question is certainly that Sakhalin-3 is of great interest to us. In fact, just yesterday (November 5) our Minister for Petroleum was here, and he met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. This was one of the important subjects that we discussed. Yes, we are very serious about it. I think we have both the technical capability and the financial capability to add value to this, and other projects as well. I would say that energy is one of the most important areas, and we need to focus on it in our economic interactions, which cover hydrocarbons of course, but also nuclear energy and hydro energy. Furthermore, I am very pleased to see that in both countries non-conventional renewable energies are gaining in popularity. I do not know how many of your readers are aware, but the second largest company in the world for wind energy (Suzlon) is an Indian company. As we understand, our needs for energy will grow drastically over the next few years, we are also conscious on the need for clean energy, including wind and solar energy. And these are areas where we can do a lot with our Russian friends.

The Indian ONGC Videsh Ltd reportedly plans to found a joint company with Rosneft in order to implement mining and development projects in East Siberia. Is that true? When can these plans be implemented?

I've just mentioned the visit of our Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas. In the delegation accompanying him we had the Chief Executive of the company you just mentioned. They are in the process of talking to all Russian companies in the hydrocarbon business. ONGC Videsh is an arm of the ONGC, and the ONGC is a company that has had very intimate ties with Russia. Many of its engineers studied in Moscow, St.Petersburg, and in other Russian cities. The people know each other, and there is a great deal of comfort among them. They are talking to Rosneft, and are also talking to Gazprom and Lukoil, and they hope to find a common language with our Russian friends.

In your opinion, what is the outlook of Indian-Russian contacts in the field of atomic energy, given that Nuclear Suppliers Group recently lifted its sanctions from India? Does India intend to sign a contract on cooperation with Russia in this field?

Just to clarify something that is important, India was not under any sanctions from the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In the previous scenario, the Nuclear Suppliers Group approved nuclear trade and commerce only to countries that have accepted full scope and comprehensive safeguards. India does not accept comprehensive safeguards. What has now happened is that the Nuclear Suppliers Group has made an exemption specific to India. Notwithstanding India not accepting comprehensive safeguards, the NSG countries have now decided to engage in nuclear cooperation with India. It is a very welcome development and I must pause here to say a sincere thank you to the Russian leadership for its support to India in the NSG. I know that it was very effective support which we got from Russia. Russia also lobbied very hard in our favour with other NSG members.

As for what we are going to do, we are hoping to sign an intergovernmental agreement when President Medvedev is in India. I think Russia is in a unique position as far as nuclear trade with India is concerned because Russia is already constructing two nuclear reactors in Kudankulam in India. I think this is now going to grow, and Russia has probably the best prospects among any of our partners in winning more lucrative contracts for nuclear reactors since they already have men and material on the ground, in India.

Another basic element of our cooperation is the sphere of defence. India is one of the major importers of Russian weapons. Is it possible to boost cooperation in this field? Is India happy with the terms and the cost of getting the Admiral Gorshkov cruiser?

There was an Inter Governmental Commission meeting late in September in India, and the Russian Defence Minister was in India for this. We had a very successful meeting, and on both sides we have a very constructive approach to addressing the issues that exist. I would say in broad terms that Russia remains our number one priority when it comes to our defence cooperation with foreign countries, and this is something which both my Prime Minister and my Defence Minister have stated publicly.

As far as the specifics are concerned, since you are talking about the aircraft carrier, I would say that we are still in the process of negotiating the new terms and conditions. I don't know what the outcome will be, but there is one thing I am very confident about – both sides understand the responsibility for finding an acceptable solution to this major project in our defence cooperation, and I remain confident that we will find a solution.

India reportedly announced that it is going to purchase 126 jet fighters. How do you estimate Russia's chances of getting the contract?

I think we are still at the preliminary stages of assessment of the various bids that have been made. It would be premature to go into this at this point of time. What I can certainly say is that the process is going to be very fair, objective and transparent. We should wait and see.

India is increasingly popular among Russian tourists but there is still much room for improvement. What India is going to do to attract more Russian tourists?

That's a good question. I agree with you that we need to do more to attract Russian tourists to India. What I can tell you is that there is certainly a very ambitious plan for the Year of India in Russia next year to promote India as a tourist destination. What specifically is holding back Russian tourists is, I believe, the problem of air connections between India and Russia, between the different destinations. I hope that both the Indian and Russian carriers will establish many more civil aviation links between the two countries. Once that happens, you will see more people going to India, and we also hope to see more Indians coming to Russia. I should also say that there is an issue with the grant of Russian visas. We are certainly approaching it with a very constructive attitude, because we do understand the importance of a smooth visa issue regime. We have been doing a lot in this area. We do have some more plans, and I am confident that we will get an adequate response from the Russian side as well to promote more travel between Russia and India. More than 15 million Indian nationals travel overseas every year, but only a very small fraction comes to Russia. The two reasons for this are, as I said, absence of regular and frequent flights between travel destinations in both countries, and to some extent the difficulties involved in obtaining Russian visas.

In your opinion, is it possible to introduce a vise-free regime between India and Russia in the near future?

The idea can certainly be examined. If it can be introduced it will be a major boost to travel between the two countries, especially of businessmen, investors, and entrepreneurs. You may be aware that for Diplomatic and Official passport holders, we already have a vise-free travel regime.

http://www.interfax.com/17/447042/Interview.aspx

[Lupus in Fabula]

India, Russia to step up defence cooperation Sandeep Dikshit Focus on trade during Medvedev’s visit Both already finalised plans for expanding ties in nuclear sector
Joint panel meet held to iron out wrinkles in relationship
NEW DELHI: India and Russia on Wednesday set the stage for stepping up defence cooperation and signing a wide-ranging protocol during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit here this week.
The contours of the protocol on cooperation in trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural sectors were discussed during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Zhukov. The two sides have already finalised plans for expanding cooperation in the nuclear sector.
The interaction was held under the aegis of the 14th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation.
In the area of defence cooperation, the two sides held the first meeting of the India-Russia High Level Monitoring Committee to iron out wrinkles in the relationship. The two-day meeting, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and Mikhail Dmitriev, Director, Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation, from the Russian side, ended here on Wednesday.
Both sides discussed issues related to ongoing projects such as the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft, Multi-role Transport Aircraft, T-90 tanks, AWACS, Su-30MKI upgrade, aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and Medium Lift Helicopters. Cooperation between the defence forces of the two countries was also discussed.
This new forum was established during the last meeting of the India Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation held here in September this year under the joint chairmanship of the Defence Ministers of both countries. This forum was established to not only monitor implementation of the ongoing Military Technical Cooperation activities but also identify new activities for enhancing defence cooperation through joint research, development and production of military hardware, including transfer of technology and cooperation between the armed forces.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/04/stor...0460871100.htm

[ulver81 (POL)]

China, India to hold joint anti-terror military training


www.chinaview.cn 2008-12-04 19:10:01 Print
BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese and Indian military forces will hold a joint anti-terror military training from Dec. 6to 14 in India, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
The two armies will each dispatch an infantry company to take part in the joint training, code-named "Hand in Hand 2008", in south India's Belgaum District, said the ministry spokesman Huang Xueping.
The group of 137 troops from the Chinese side arrived at the training camp in Belgaum on Thursday after eight hours' flight by two military transport planes, and a brief welcoming ceremony was held at the airport by the Indian side.
The joint training is being carried out according to the Memorandum of Understanding for Exchanges and Cooperation in the Field of Defense signed in 2006 and is listed in the annual exchange plans for 2008 after discussion of the two sides, Huang said.
The joint training was intended to enhance mutual understanding and trust and advance the development of relations between the Chinese and Indian armies, he said.
"The time of the training was set previously and the joint training has no specified background and is not aimed at any third parties," he said.
The nine-day joint anti-terror military training will include display of weapons and equipment, communication of tactics, joint training and a comprehensive drill.
The two countries held their first joint anti-terrorism military training in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province last year.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...t_10457049.htm

[Peucezio (POL)]

Che cavolo, uno straccio di sintesi in italiano??

[Lupus in Fabula]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday. NEW DELHI: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived here on Thursday with a pact on furthering nuclear cooperation capping the agenda.
Both sides have lined up a large number of agreements but most of them are aimed at covering up in case substantive agreements in defence fail to materialise.
“Both sides are still negotiating on several issues for quite some time but there has been no consensus. The nuclear agreement is the only highlight for now. But the atmosphere is better than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Moscow visit in February,” said informed sources.
What is being billed as a three-day visit is actually a one-day working visit. Mr. Medvedev arrived in the evening and all his official engagements take place on Friday. He will leave for Moscow on Saturday morning.
Russia is offering a new power plant AES-2006, which incorporates a third generation VVER-1200 reactor of 1170 MW. This is an advanced version of the VVER-1000 being installed a Koodankulam. The new reactor will operate at higher thermal power of 3200 MWt with a longer life span of 50 years. The sources said it can withstand an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale and a direct hit from a fighter aircraft. All reactors will be supplied with lifetime guarantee of fuel. Russia has claimed substantial current experience in such projects. Its ongoing projects include building of five reactors at home and seven abroad.
Russia is building the first and second power units for the Koodankulam nuclear power plant. The proposed agreement scheduled to be signed during Mr. Medvedev’s visit envisages the construction of at least four more nuclear power plants.
Thus Russia will become the first country with which cooperation in concrete terms has materialised after India was accepted in the international civil nuclear community.
Apart from this, both sides are attempting to stitch some defence deals with representatives of Tactical Rocket Systems engaged with Defence Ministry officials. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited officials are also discussing the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding with Sukhoi on developing and producing a slightly larger short distance civilian aircraft than the regional jet developed by the Russian company. Apart from Dr. Singh and Mr. Medvedev issuing a joint declaration after their summit meeting on Friday, a host of agreements and statements of intent have been lined up. These include a political declaration, a list of priorities for enhancing the strategic partnership next year and four memoranda of understanding between Roscosmos and Indian Space Research Organisation, stock market regulators, customs training institutes and agencies for probing financial transactions, respectively. They will also sign an agreement on tourism for 2009-10.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/05/stor...0561431700.htm

[Lupus in Fabula]

Che cavolo, uno straccio di sintesi in italiano??

Dopo te la faccio. Certo che per occuparti di geopolitica un po' di inglese devi per forza masticarlo...

[Cesare]

Che cavolo, uno straccio di sintesi in italiano??

Sostanzialmente, la Russia venderà all'India quattro reattori nucleari e vari mezzi militari, inoltre i due paesi hanno confermato ed esteso la cooperazione in R&S nel campo bellico (anche se qui ci vedo più propaganda che altro, poiché i russi si sviluppano da soli le armi mentre gli indiani non sanno neanche fare i proiettili tra un pò).

[ulver81 (POL)]

L'India si conferma instabile e sempre più dipendente da Usa e Russia, specie per quel che concerne il nucleare.Ed i cinesi non sono da meno in questo gioco.



BELGAUM, India, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- A week of China-India army joint anti-terrorism training kicked off on Saturday with performances of tai chi and Indian martial arts.

The 'Hand in Hand 2008' training is scheduled to end on Dec. 12.
Qin Xiangyou, who is in charge of Chinese soldiers participating in the sessions, said during opening ceremonies that the joint training was aimed at promoting the two armies' mutual understanding and trust.
He also said it was a way for the armies to develop their friendship, and expand the fields for exchanges and cooperation.
After the ceremony, Chinese and Indian soldiers displayed their weapons.
Moreover, Chinese soldiers performed tai chi and anti-terror shooting skills, while their Indian counterparts put on a display of the country's traditional martial arts.
During the sessions, the soldiers will train in anti-terror shooting and raids, exchange views on anti-terror theories and civilian and judicial issues, and carry out comprehensive drills with the theme of closing, controlling and searching.
China and India conducted their first anti-terror joint training in southwest China's Yunnan province last year. China and India are the world's biggest developing countries. Peace and friendship between them is not only in the interests of both countries, but also important for bringing peace, stability and prosperity to South Asia, Ouyang Wei, professor of the University of National Defense, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Friday.

[Peucezio (POL)]

Sostanzialmente, la Russia venderà all'India quattro reattori nucleari e vari mezzi militari, inoltre i due paesi hanno confermato ed esteso la cooperazione in R&S nel campo bellico (anche se qui ci vedo più propaganda che altro, poiché i russi si sviluppano da soli le armi mentre gli indiani non sanno neanche fare i proiettili tra un pò).

Bene. E' pericoloso un legame troppo stretto India-USA. Anche l'India dovrà capire che per forza di cose deve intensificare i legami coi vicini regionali.

[Peucezio (POL)]

Dopo te la faccio. Certo che per occuparti di geopolitica un po' di inglese devi per forza masticarlo...

Sì, non hai tutti i torti. Per evitarlo sto studiando il russo e, sapendo un po' il francese e bene lo spagnolo, l'auspicio sarebbe quello di poter prescindere dall'inglese.
In realtà, se mi ci metto qualcosa capisco anche, ma di solito evito di farlo per principio.