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