Talking as equals

The beauty of this discordant note is that both sides didn8217;t let it mar the quality of the visit. At the signing ceremony of the seven bilateral agreements, it seemed as if a large part of the Cabinet had turned out; certainly the creme de la creme in the form of George Fernandes, L.K. Advani, Jaswant Singh, Anantha Kumar was there. At the PM8217;s banquet later that evening, senior Opposition leaders turned outto grace the table. Primakov rose to the occasion by releasing a book of poems, translated into Russian. The author : Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India.

The Russian prime minister8217;s 8220;sign the NPT8221; demand, analysts say, points to the intensely complex nature of the bilateral relationship, where both countries8217; need for each other overweigh differences. Despite his 8220;stormy encounter8221; with Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra in early June over India8217;s nuclear tests 8220;Why didn8217;t you tell us before you were going to test,8221;a furious Primakov told Mishra, to which Mishra is believed to have replied, 8220;What difference would it have made if we had.8221;, Primakov agreed to quickly stand in for Russian President Boris Yeltsin 8212; the first visitor from a Permanent-5 nation 8212; who had cancelled his December 6 visit to Delhi on health grounds.

Within weeks of the first Primakov-Mishra tete-a-tete, Russia8217;s Atomic Energy minister Adamov was in the capital, to sign the 8220;supplement8221; to the ten-year-oldagreement to build two civilian nuclear power plants in Koodamkulam, Tamil Nadu. Washington lifted one eyebrow in disapproval, but one month later in July, the detailed project report was through. By September, the first of the seven cryogenic engine blocks promised to ISRO to launch its geostationary satellite, had landed.

Only a handful of old-timers remembered that Moscow had actually earlier promised to transfer the technology along with the engines, but had been threatened in 1993 with sanctions by the US if it did so. Such, however, was the commitment of the Russian scientific establishment to its Indian counterparts, that before Moscow formally revoked its contract to ISRO, most of the technology was actually, secretly, given to New Delhi.

The long-term military-technical cooperation between India and Moscow, slated to last until the year 2010 AD, signed under the benign gaze of Vajpayee and Primakov last week, underwrites the continuing significance of the relationship. Russian sources confirmedthat Washington had again conveyed its disapproval about this pact with New Delhi.

The truth is that with its economy in a shambles, Moscow desperately needs ready cash. India remains an eager partner and a number of other deals, including the sale of Russian submarines, is in the pipeline. Evidently, Moscow has also offered the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov8217; for free, only New Delhi has to pay for the cost of refitting it according to the Navy8217;s requirements. Navy sources, hoping the political decision will be made in favour of the purchase, point out that the cost of the refit will be a mere 400 million. And that until India develops its own aircraft carrier, the Gorshkov8217; will add teeth to a nuclear India.

Primakov, in fact, should be applauded by the Indian business community for indirectly preserving their interests. After he became Prime Minister in August, Primakov reversed a government decision to auction the entire rupee-rouble debt, worth 1 billion annually, in favour of part allocationof the debt. That means that Russian enterprises will now definitely spend at least 500 million annually on buying goods from India. In fact, Primakov has sought New Delhi8217;s help in giving food and pharmaceutical aid to help tide over the terrible Russian winter.

Analysts point out that it would be foolish for New Delhi to even remotely seek Russian help in taking on other nations, such as in the West, who continue to deny high-technology to India. The crisis in Iraq brought home to the Russians, that Moscow first needs to get its own house in order before it can make superpower noises.

Primakov8217;s so-called grand 8220;strategic alliance8221; between Russia, China and India, these analysts say, should be seen in terms of a test balloon, with which he sought to check New Delhi8217;s reaction to what may have been a secret dream. Vajpayee8217;s disavowal of course quickly nipped that proposal in the bud.

Nevertheless, the interesting fact of the Indo-Russian relationship is that it seems to have survived the post-ColdWar confusion. Yeltsin in his early years as president of Russia had touted the concept of 8220;equidistance8221; between Moscow on the one hand, and New Delhi and Pakistan on the other. A secret arms pact between Russia and Pakistan had even been put together in late 1992.

But over the years, as the topsy-turvy world stabilises, Moscow and New Delhi have forged an equation of their own. Moscow has promised time and again that it will not sell arms to Pakistan. Primakov, as the representative of a nation who is a permanent-five member of the Security Council, say officials, will talk about the non-proliferation treaties including the NPT that Russia believes India must sign. New Delhi rejects such a suggestion. 8220;It is how nuclear powers talk to each other, discussing their similarities and their differences,8221; said one analyst.