Putin, Modi make up with a bear hug

New Delhi, October 15: When India and Russia got together on Saturday before the BRICS Summit they were like long lost friends, who needed to spend some time together to accommodate each others concerns as evident in the joint statement. While Russia echoed India's sentiment of “zero tolerance” for terrorists and their abettors; New Delhi appreciated Moscow's efforts in Syria.

The Indo-Russian ties got a major shot in arm with the inking of 16 big ticket pacts ranging from defence to energy. The cementing of ties come at a crucial juncture as India saw Russia getting uncomfortably closer to Pakistan, and Moscow cringed at the tight embracing of Washington by New Delhi.

A stellar example of Indo-Russian cooperation - INS Chakra an Akula class submarine give on lease to India by Russia

Not taking each other for granted any more, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a Russian proverb to describe the bilateral ties spanning over seven decades. “One Old Friend is better than two new ones,” Prime Minister Modi said as Russian President Vladimir Putin could not suppress a smile.

It was clear that the two leaders have ironed out the irritants in the bilateral ties that were cropped up as New Delhi was caught in a diplomatic bind as its “all-weather” friend was gearing up for first military drill with Pakistan as its Army base in Uri was under attack by terrorists supported from across the border. Touching upon India’s concerns about cross-border terrorism, Prime Minister Modi said: "Russia's clear stand on the need to combat terrorism mirrors our own. We deeply appreciate Russia's understanding and support of our actions to fight cross-border terrorism that threatens our entire region. We both affirmed the need for zero tolerance in dealing with terrorists and their supporters."

President Putin also said that the countries were working in tandem to counter terrorism.

The joint statement issued by the two countries after the completion of the 17th Indo-Russian Annual Summit is a testimony of the commitment of India and Russia to the relationship despite forging ties with other countries. The lengthy statement sought to accommodate issues important for both the countries – nuclear energy, defence, cross-border terrorism, India’s bid to become member of the UN Security Council and Nuclear Suppliers’ Group; and Russia’s concerns about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and cessation of hostilities in Syria.

On countering terrorism the two countries underlined the need to deny safe havens to terrorists and stressed “the need to have a strong international legal regime built on the principle of ‘zero tolerance for direct or indirect support of terrorism’”. India also took notice of the unconditional condemnation of the Uri terror attack by Russia. India also expressed satisfaction at Russia understanding its interests and reservations about holding exercises with Pakistan, which “sponsors and practices terrorism as a matter of State policy".

"We are satisfied that Russia understand India's interest and they will never do anything contrary to India's interest and I think there was a strong meeting of minds on this subject," Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said addressing a press conference in Goa after the conclusion of the India-Russia bilateral Summit.

Ahead of proposing a reconstruction fund for Syria, India also found its views converging with Russia as far as the war-torn country was concerned. Both sides stressed for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the country within the ambit of the UN Security Council’s resolutions. “Both Sides underlined the necessity of strengthening the cessation of hostilities, delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas, and the continuation of intra-Syrian dialogue under UN supervision. India recognized Russian Side's effort towards achieving a political and negotiated settlement of the situation in Syria,” the joint statement read.

SAARC Obituary: BIMSTEC becomes Most Favoured Regional grouping

September 24: By officially pulling out of the SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad, New Delhi on Tuesday wrote an obituary for the regional bloc that has outlived its relevance. In the face of peevish Pakistan holding SAARC hostage by blocking all development projects, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) has emerged as the most favoured regional grouping and India has decided to work bilaterally or trilaterally with Afghanistan.

Earlier India had refrained from official announcement on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the summit for the heads of states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). But as it becomes clear that Modi will not travel to Islamabad this could be a death knell for the regional bloc.
Member countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are now working towards a more connected and integrated South Asia with visa free people and vehicle movement; and by making energy grids. Only one country will be left behind and that seems to be Pakistan.
In 2014, Pakistan had blocked a common Motor Vehicle Agreement for the SAARC countries to facilitate free transport movement in the region. But on August 28, as Islamabad was busy ratcheting up Kashmir issue, a cargo truck loaded with Garments started for India as part of trial run under the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA).  “For long the region’s potential has been curtailed due to one spiteful country, this showcase agreement has been long overdue,” said a senior diplomat.
Over next five years, 30 road projects will be constructed at a cost of $8 billion with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank. A proposal is there to extend the project to other three members of the BIMSTEC namely – Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
The South Asian region has been the least interconnected region in the world with internal trade amounting for only 5 percent of the total trade of the countries. India is also helping Afghanistan to construct rail and road tracks to get it accessibility to Chahbahar Port to reduce its dependence on Pakistan for trade. Most recently Pakistan has been dragging its feet to provide transit rights to India to export wheat required by Afghanistan, despite the “humanitarian” nature of the requirement.
“Afghanistan is now member of WTO (World Trade Organisation) and as such has rights including transit rights and other countries has corresponding obligation to provide transit rights. We all know that the concerned country also a WTO member does not have much respect for global rules whether it is trade in ordinary products or nuclear proliferation. The bottom line is Afghanistan’s right to access has been seriously infringed,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
On Afghanistan, India has formed India-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral to provide Afghanistan access to Central Asian market and explore alternate trade routes and is working in the India-US-Afghanistan trilateral for building military capability of the country.
This year a proposal for a single visa for the BIMSTEC countries on the lines of Europe’s Schengen visa was mooted. Negotiations are on for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between these countries that will cover 1.6 billion people with a total GDP of $ 3 trillion.
Pakistan has backed out of the SAARC satellite proposed by India that will provide range of services to all neighbours in the areas of telecommunications and broadcasting applications and disaster management. But enthusiasm on part of other countries, especially Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal; means the ISRO-developed satellite is likely to be launched by the end of the year.

India steams into Afghan border to counter Pakistan

Ditching its long-held worry of feeding into Islamabad’s insecurities by helping Kabul, India will start work on a 500-km-long rail track in the Hajigak region of Afghanistan, giving the country access to the Iranian port of Chabahar, just 72 km west of Pakistan’s Gwadar port that is being built with Chinese help.

Rail tracks from Khaaf in Iran reached zero point at the Afghan border and now the track-laying on Afghan side will begin. “Iran has finished its half. Now the first phase inside Afghan territory to lay 62 km in Ghoriyan district has been launched and will take around four months to complete,” sources said. Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra attended the ceremony at the Iran-Afghan border on September 7.

The rail link passing through the mineral rich region of Afghanistan will open a new trade route for India to Central Asia and will reduce Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistan for trade. The track to Chabahar port will allow exploration of the vast mineral reserves in the region bypassing Pakistan, which has refused New Delhi land access to Kabul. Hajigak, 130 km west of Kabul in Bamiyan province, has iron reserves worth $3 trillion. Twenty-two companies have been shortlisted to mine these, of which  14 are Indian, including a consortium led by Steel Authority of India Limited.

While India has shied away from providing boots on the ground, it has seized the opportunity to provide strategic assistance to Kabul with helicopters and rail tracks to provide sea access to the landlocked country. The network, seen as an answer to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, will be the launchpad for India for greater economic and strategic engagement with oil-rich Central Asia. There are prospects of tie-ups with Iran and Russia to create a network to Central Asia and finally to Europe through the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Pakistan recently rubbed in the influence it wields in Afghanistan’s trade when it closed the Friendship Gate at Chaman Post for over two weeks, crippling Kabul’s exports. Afghan imports through Karachi port declined by more than 40 per cent in February, and Afghan-Indian trade volume could increase four-fold if a trilateral agreement materializes.

Ministry of External Affairs officials have indicated that the three countries have during the 2nd India-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral in Tehran decided to hold meetings between experts on aspects of the project. Recommendations will be discussed in the 3rd Trilateral meeting in Kabul.

Panetta meets PM, US seeks larger role for India in Af-Pak

With Asia-Pacific region gaining top importance in the US strategic matrix, the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta began his India visit on Tuesday with a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and seeking New Delhi to play a greater role in the volatile Af-Pak region.

The gradually ascending assertiveness of China in the South China Sea is also going to be one of the focus areas of Panetta’s maiden visit to India since taking over as the Defense Secretary. Prior to Panetta’s visit the US has announced to base 60 percent of its military assets in the Asia-Pacific region much to the chagrin of China.

The US Defense Secretary, who is on a nine-day tour of Asian countries, landed here around 1.30 pm and headed to meet the Prime Minister at 7 Race Course Road. In the one hour meeting, Panetta is said to have touched on the two issues along with bolstering strategic and defence cooperation among the two countries.

Panetta will be meeting Defence Minister AK Antony, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon along with a delegation to discuss various regional and global security issues. India is pivotal to Pentagon's new defence strategy that puts greater focus on the Asia-Pacific. In the strategy document, India was singled out owing to its geo-strategic location that gives it a vantage status both in East and West Asia.

With the US set to pull out its troops from strife-torn Afghanistan by 2014 end, it has been urging India to play a greater role in stabilizing the country. So far India’s involvement in Afghanistan has been limited to economic and soft skills development. The US is keen on New Delhi’s help in training Afghanistan police and Army.

With the Defence Minister Chinese assertiveness will be an important talking point for Panetta. At recently concluded Shangri La Dialogue, Antony termed China’s huge defence spending as “a matter of concern”. For the US, emergence of China as a major regional power has been a matter of “top priority” pegging it with no choice but to cement its strategic ties with India as its relation with Pakistan continues to churn. During Panetta’s visit both the countries will be exchanging their assessment of China’s rise.

Besides this, Panetta is likely to push for discussions on the three basic defence agreements namely—the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) – in limbo for years now. Both the sides have already signed the End User Agreement, under which US may carry out verification of its weapon systems. 

The LSA would require both countries to provide their bases; fuel and other kind of logistics support to each others' fighter jets and naval warships. The agreement has been in limbo for years now. The US has agreements similar to the LSA in place with some 65 countries. With the Indian and US militaries increasing their engagement in war games on land, in the air and at sea, CISMOA has become a necessity to ensure there are no communication glitches.

Defence deals will also be on Panetta’s mind as in the defence trade between India and US is on the rise even as the US companies lost out the multi-billion dollar fighter jet deal. The two countries have signed over defence deals valuing more than $ 8.5 billion in the last 11 years. Deals worth many more billions are in the offing. The major deals include acquiring six more C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft, four more P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, Jaguar engine upgrades, M-777 ultra-light howitzers and AH-64D attack helicopters.