Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

JOINT STATEMENT OF INDIA AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON STRATEGIC ISSUES

Joint statement after the meeting between the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Russian President Vladimir Putin, at Kremlin, Moscow.

India and the Russian Federation, as strategic partners, reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate bilaterally and at the multilateral level on strategic issues for the development of a multi-polar world based on a new cooperative security order.

They noted that their bilateral relations of long-standing friendship, trust and confidence, contribute to Eurasian stability, and are a factor of global significance. They would continue their active cooperation in addressing issues of global and regional security, including threats posed by terrorism and extremism.

Dialogue and consultation among the countries concerned would be crucial in bringing about a new framework of security that would promote global peace and security and stability. Both sides would undertake joint efforts, bilaterally and in multilateral forums, in promoting this objective.

Both sides expressed their support to preserving existing arms control and disarmament agreements, including the ABM Treaty.

The two sides consider as of priority importance strengthening regional and international security as well as support for advancing towards general and complete disarmament, in particular by systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally with the ultimate goal of eliminating these weapons.

They reaffirmed their support for the UN Secretary General’s proposal noted by the Millennium Declaration for an International Conference to address and effectively eliminate nuclear dangers and for the proposal to convene the fourth Special Session of the UN General Assembly on disarmament.

India welcomed the readiness of Russia and the United States to further reduce their strategic offensive weapons. India and Russia called upon other nuclear weapon states also to join the process of nuclear reductions at an appropriate stage.

As original states-parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, both sides stressed their commitment to ensuring that the provisions of the Convention are fully and effectively implemented and called upon other states to do so.

Both sides called for continued international efforts aimed at concluding a universally acceptable, legally binding Protocol to strengthen the BTWC of 1972.

Russia welcomed India's voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing and positively evaluated the Indian Government's efforts to develop a broad national consensus on the issue of the CTBT.

Both sides reiterated the importance of the Conference on Disarmament as the single multilateral disarmament-negotiating forum and stressed that this body should respond to the global disarmament agenda through multilaterally negotiated, internationally and effectively verifiable disarmament agreements.

They stressed their readiness to work with others for an early commencement of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament for banning the future production of weapon grade fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices.

With a view to ensuring the non-weaponisation of outer space, while at the same time preserving the use of space for the full range of cooperative, peaceful and developmental activities, both sides called upon the international community to make efforts for concluding appropriate legally binding instruments towards that end including the proposal for a comprehensive agreement on banning the deployment of weapons in outer space, non-use of force or threat of the use of force against space objects.

They declared their readiness to work jointly with other states on the creation of a Global Control System for non-proliferation of missiles and missile technologies on a global, equal and non-discriminatory basis, under the UN auspices. They attach special significance to the preparation of the UN Secretary General’s Report on Missiles during the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

Both sides are determined to maintaining and further strengthening their already effective and transparent system of national export controls, in line with the objectives of non-proliferation in all its aspects without adversely effecting the peaceful applications of dual use materials and technologies.

Both sides shall continue to consult on a regular basis on strategic issues.