M A I N   N E W S

Trilateral axis growing in stature: Trubnikov
Moscow to help set up 4 N-power stations in India
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 16
The trilateral axis among India, Russia and China was growing in strength with better understanding and achieved purpose economic and geopolitical substance. The Foreign Ministers of the three nations who met here on Wednesday discussed the overall political situation, the Iranian nuclear problem, Afghanistan, Iraq, the United Nations and India’s role as a rising power in the international arena.

Stating this, Russia’s Ambassador to India Vyacheslav Trubnikov said here the three nations were convinced that if the North Korean tangle could be resolved through political and diplomatic efforts, the Iranian issue could also be settled in a similar manner. More importantly, the Iranian military should not be provoked.

In this context, the Ambassador drew pointed attention to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address in Munich recently when the latter underlined the need for a unipolar world rather than taking decisions unilaterally, as evidenced in Afghanistan and Iraq leading to fresh hotspots of strife and terrorism.

About the Indo-Russian cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the Ambassador quickly recalled that his country had supplied fuel for the Tarapur nuclear plant when the US imposed sanctions. Moscow will pursue cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy without violating its obligations to the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

At the same time, Moscow enjoyed certain privileges in this country. In this context he referred to Russia assisting in setting up four more atomic power stations and the inter-governmental agreements for this were being worked out.

He said Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) member countries were working towards lifting sanctions that had the prospects of succeeding in the very near future.

The NSG was not a block and must include India in international cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. India had a military programme and it was not easy to separate a unified nuclear programme as purely military and civilian.

“In Russia, the same scientists are involved in both military and peaceful applications of nuclear energy,” the Ambassador noted.

While commending the collaborative endeavours of India and Russia in developing BrahMos missile, Mr Trubnikov added that Moscow did not think it would be a commercial proposition exporting the BrahMos missile to third countries. Mr Trubnikov drew attention to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) even as there was a passing mention of possibly involving Brazil with the India, Russia and China axis.

He was quick to discount the idea of Brazil being part of the trilateral axis being institutionalised because of various factors, including its location in distant Latin America. On its part, Brazil will also have to think in a practical manner.

Others were also invited to take part in the SCO and joint exercises to fight the menace of terrorism. Concerted efforts were on for India becoming a full-fledged member of the SCO.

On what Russia’s will stand be if Iran is attacked, he affirmed that Moscow desired resolving the issue in a purely political manner. Russia was against any military activity against anyone.