India, Russia sign defence pact
Primakov suggests strategic triangle
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 21 — Traditional Indo-Russian relations got a further boost today with the two sides signing seven bilateral agreements ranging from military and technical cooperation to a wide array of economic areas.

The Russian Prime Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov, and the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who witnessed the signing of the seven agreements in the sprawling complex of Hyderabad House here tonight later disclosed to mediapersons they would personally oversee the implementation of the agreements.

The agreements signed tonight included a long-term agreement on military-technical cooperation up to the year 2010, an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, one on extradition treaty, a joint document on development of trade, economic, industrial, finance, science and technology cooperation between the two countries, an air transport agreement, consular convention and an agreement on cooperation in the field of communications.

The Russian Prime Minister later said these agreements would boost horizontal and vertical cooperation between the two countries and revealed the two sides would follow up these documents next year during Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s scheduled visit to India with a wide-ranging sweeping document defining a strategic relationship.

Mr Primakov said the bilateral agreements covering a whole range of areas showed the closeness of relationship that the two countries had.

To a question on whether Russia supported India’s candidature for a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council, Mr Primakov said India was a "strong and appropriate candidate" for the seat.

Mr Primakov, who arrived in the Capital last evening and commenced his two-day official visit with a ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, had a tight schedule. He met the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, over lunch and later had meetings with the Vice-President, Mr Krishna Kant, and the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi.

This was followed by a meeting with Mr Vajpayee where Mr Primakov had one-to-one talks with the Indian Prime Minister. Later, there were delegation-level talks between the two sides and this was rounded up by the signing of the seven agreements.

Mr Primakov, who was quoted as saying after the ceremonial welcome ceremony that he was in favour of a strategic partnership between India, Russia and China to ensure peace and stability in the world, later clarified he wanted such a relationship to be evolved within the existing framework of partnership between the three countries.

Mr Vajpayee said no formal proposal had been made by Mr Primakov. He said India’s relationship with Russia was time-tested and with China it was trying to improve and normalise relations.

The bilateral agreements signed today between the two sides had been under discussion for quite some time now and reflected the traditional closeness of the two countries.

The presence of senior Cabinet Ministers, including the Home Minister, the Finance Minister, the Commerce Minister, the Defence Minister and the Minister of External Affairs from the Indian side and an equal number of Ministers from the Russian side reflected the substantive and functional dimension of the Russian Prime Minister’s visit.

Apart from discussing cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear sector, the two sides also discussed the entire gamut of economic cooperation.

Talks between the two sides also covered regional issues, global issues of common interests, the West Asia peace process, developments in Iraq, the menace of terrorism, international economic order and emergence of a multipolar world and the role of the United Nations.

A spokesman from the Indian side later said there was convergence of views between the two countries in all these subjects.

The spokesman said the most important aspect of Mr Primakov’s visit was the reiteration of the closeness of Indo-Russian relationship and a common geo-political strategic perception of the two sides.