Homebound DPM

So what was the reason for this undiplomatic derring-do? Turns out, Advani had packed bag and baggage for Moscow and St Petersburg in mid-October—and even collected a group of journalists to report the story—when word came that Putin would be unable to receive him because he was busy with the King of Spain.

Having announced the visit without a confirmation from Moscow about Putin’s availability, the Home ministry was forced to cancel it. Days later, with both Moscow and New Delhi pushing hard, a confirmed appointment in early November was first obtained from Putin. This time, it was Advani’s turn to cry off.

Extra Hot Mexican

Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda seemed to have decided upon a charm offensive when he landed in New Delhi over the weekend. After all, Mexico’s permanent representative to the UN had, in the late summer, voiced the opinion that the Security Council should brief all members of the Security Council—of which Mexico is currently a non-permanent member—on the eyeball-to-eyeball situation on the India-Pakistan border.

Kashmir, he insisted, was the underlying cause of the problem. The Mexican diplomat went further and attempted to call an informal meeting of UN ambassadors outside the Security Council, called the ‘‘Arria group.’’

Which is when India’s representative to the UN Vijay Nambiar got into the act and persuaded his colleagues at the ‘‘Arria’’ that there was no need for such a meeting at all. It didn’t take place. Still, that didn’t stop the MEA from being absolutely furious about the Mexican attempt.

Castaneda knew he had to make amends. He did, even disavowing the words of his own diplomat; and finally Yashwant Sinha relented.

Russian N-intrigue

Russia’s supply of nuclear fuel to the unsafeguarded Tarapur civilian nuclear reactor last year must be one of the most interesting stories of all time. Like so much else in the bilateral relationship, at the time the story began—during Putin’s visit to New Delhi two years ago—as well as when it actually took place, it was completely under wraps.

Moscow took huge criticism from the Nuclear Suppliers Group when it told the NSG it was going to supply ‘‘nuclear pellets’’ to Tarapur in the interest of the safety of the reactor. The NSG was much too stunned to point out that this actually constituted a violation of its norms since India was not a NPT signatory.

By the time the next meeting took place, NSG members were all geared up to take Moscow apart—except, Russian officials shrugged their shoulders: the Indian deliveries had already taken place.

Khemka On Top

At long last, there’s an Indian rubbing shoulders with the creme de la creme of Russia’s rich and powerful. Nand Khemka, chairman and founder of the Sun Group, was only yesterday appointed a member of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov’s elite Foreign Investment Advisory Council.

The world’s top 20 corporates are members of the FIAC, which seeks to enhance Russia’s appeal to foreign investors. Khemka, who began to do business with the former Soviet Union in 1958, stayed with the region even after the empire broke up in end-1991. His company today controls 20% of Russia’s breweries.