Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Suo Moto Statement by Prime Minister on the State visit to India of the President of the Russian Federation

Following is the text of the English rendering of the Suo Moto Statement in Parliament by Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the State visit to India of President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation :

~The President of the Russian Federation made a State visit to India from December 3 to 5. The visit continued the recent tradition of annual summit meetings, which we have established since October 2000. President Putin called on our President, who also hosted a banquet in his honour. The Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of External Affairs and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha called on President Putin.

President Putin and I had detailed discussions on bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. These discussions reaffirmed the deep community of interests between India and Russia on a whole range of issues of mutual concern.

The wide canvas of our mutual interests is illustrated by the important documents concluded during the visit. These include the Delhi Declaration on further consolidation of strategic partnership, a Joint Declaration on strengthening economic, scientific and technological cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in combating terrorism. These documents and the Joint Statement on the visit are placed on the Table of the House. Documents were also signed on cooperation in telecommunications and on intellectual property rights in science and technology. A protocol on cooperation was concluded between Karnataka State and the Samara region of the Russian Federation.

We believe that these documents will further strengthen the politico-legal basis of the multi-faceted cooperation between India and Russian Federation.

President Putin and I agreed that our two countries have to take new initiatives to boost our trade and economic ties. We have to expand trade in high value, hi-tech items, as well as in areas such as oil and gas, diamonds etc. Diversification of our trade basket assumes greater urgency since the quantum of debt repayment under our bilateral Rupee-Rouble agreement will fall steeply from the year 2005. At present, this repayment funds almost all of India’s exports to Russia. We also agreed on the need to increase mutual investments.

Cooperation in energy has a long-term strategic significance for both our countries. Both sides will hold regular bilateral discussions, through appropriate mechanisms, on global energy production and supplies, which impact on our energy security. Our collaboration in the Sakhalin-I project has made good progress. We have agreed to extend our cooperation to projects in other areas – including the Caspian Sea – and to other aspects of the energy sector.

We noted with satisfaction the progress in the implementation of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and recognized that further cooperation in this sector would be in the interest of both countries. President Putin confirmed Russia’s interest in continued cooperation with India on civilian applications of nuclear energy. In the joint press interaction after our talks, he expressed the view that the international regime on these matters needs reform. We fully agree with this.

Honourable Members are aware of the wide-ranging defence cooperation between India and Russia. Our cooperation now transcends a buyer-seller relationship and includes joint research, development and production. The state-of-the-art Brahmos missile is a product of our joint research and development efforts. India and Russia are now embarking on the co-production of this missile system for its induction into the armed forces of both countries. President Putin and I agreed that a number of other projects hold promise for our future cooperation.

The Delhi Declaration reaffirms that neither country will take any action, which may threaten or impair the security of the other. We have declared that both countries would be guided by these principles in their security and defence policies and military-technical cooperation with third countries. These important mutual commitments underpin the vibrant India-Russia defence relationship.

In our review of the international situation, we were of the common view that strong and sustained counter-measures need to be taken against international terrorism. The UN Security Council Resolutions against terrorism – and particularly Resolution 1373 – should be strictly implemented. As victims of terrorism having its roots in our common neighbourhood, India and Russia have a strong security interest in meeting this threat through preventive and deterrent measures, nationally and bilaterally. The agreement to set up a Joint Working Group on Combating Terrorism will further strengthen our cooperation in this sphere.

India and Russia shared concern at the continuing threat to Afghanistan’s security from the regrouping of former Al Qaeda and Taliban elements, which continue to have links with their sponsors. We expressed full support to the Government of President Karzai and to its initiatives for national reconciliation, economic reconstruction and rebuilding of Afghan institutions. India and Russia will cooperate in promoting the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, which should be driven by Afghan priorities. India will also continue its bilateral engagement with the Afghan leadership and further strengthen its traditional links with the Afghan people.

On the situation in South Asia, the convergence of our views is expressed in our Joint Statement. Russia agrees with our position that we can resume our dialogue with Pakistan only when it stops cross-border infiltration and dismantles the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled territory.

To sum up, President Putin’s visit served the important purpose of sustaining our summit-level dialogue on the entire range of issues of interest to India and Russia. It underlined our mutual commitment to constantly strengthen our strategic partnership, to intensify our political consultations and to give a new dimension to our economic relations. It confirmed our meeting of minds on major international issues.

We will continue to attach the highest importance to our relations with Russia. In keeping with our commitment to annual Summits, I have accepted President Putin’s invitation to visit Russia next year.

Thank you~.