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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin closed more than $10 billion in agreements with India, increasing Russia’s role as a partner in defense, nuclear energy, aerospace and communications.

“Putin has been the architect of the strategic partnership between India and Russia,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said after meeting with his Russian counterpart in New Delhi today. “Relations with Russia are a key pillar of our foreign policy.”

Putin, in five visits over the past decade, has spearheaded Russia’s effort to revive Cold War-era ties to India and fend off growing competition for defense and energy contracts from the U.S. and Europe. The Kremlin is playing on Indian ambitions to become a global power capable of rivaling China and sending manned missions to outer space.

Russian companies signed more than a dozen deals, including agreements to deliver India’s second aircraft carrier in 2012, build as many as 16 nuclear reactors and sell 29 MiG-29 fighter jets. India also became the first country to win access to military use of Russia’s Glonass navigation network, a rival to the U.S. Global Positioning System. Putin promised to help send India’s first cosmonaut into space in three years and held open the possibility of joint moon exploration.

Full article here

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Russia on Friday became the third country after the US and France to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with India since this country acquired the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The agreement was signed in the presence of President Dmitry Medvedev and PM Manmohan Singh.

In the initial stages, Russia will help India build two additional nuclear power plants at Kundakulum. Even before the NSG waiver, Russia was helping India build two 1,000 MW nuclear power plants at the same site. The Russians, however, had to wait for the NSG waiver to India for a more more focused nuclear cooperation. More such power plants of Russian design, according to the two sides, will come up at other places in the country. The location for at least two more nuclear power plants is being finalised.

The modalities of the agreement had been thrashed out in November 2007 during Singh’s visit to Moscow but India refrained from signing it citing the need for a clearance from the NSG.

The two sides also signed agreements in other fields like defence, space, trade and commerce.

Full article here

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You can trust a snake, but not China, is a well known adage.  China has always been hostile towards India and opted for a dual faced diplomacy.  It has used Pakistan to clandestinely supply weapons and nuclear technology.  In spite of signing the NPT treaty, China is one of the world’s worst proliferator when it comes to nuclear technology.  Its track record of selling nuclear technology to North Korea, Libya is well know.  Pakistan is known to buy weapons from China, paint it green and give it a muslim name and pass it off as authentic production from its own factories.

So, its least surprising to know that inspite of the assurances given by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on their previous meeting, China used the non-proliferation supporters (Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands etc) to torpedo the NSG waiver to India. It was only after a personal call from George Bush to Hu Jintao and his typical “My way or the highway” straight talk that the Chinese relented.

Under criticism from India on the nuclear waiver, China is on the defensive for its role at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting in Vienna. But the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has denied that China tried to sabotage India’s chances at getting the NSG waiver.

India has reportedly registered its strong disappointment with Yang over the country’s role at the NSG meeting in Vienna.  Chinese President Hu Jintao had assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Beijing would do nothing to spoil India’s chances at the NSG.

But at the NSG, China relented only after a phone call from US President George W Bush, apparently disregarding India’s own missives in that regard. China, which had earlier given to India signals of positive cooperation in the NSG came out openly with reservations at the Vienna NSG meet last week joining some ‘hold out’ countries virtually threatening to stall the move for NSG waiver to New Delhi.

The Chinese Ambassador in Delhi was reportedly summoned to the External Affiars Ministry in the early on Saturday to convey the Indian government’s unhappiness over Beijing’s role. In Monday’s statement, China welcomed the NSG granting a waiver but hoped this cooperation should be “conducive” to safeguarding the global nuclear non-proliferation efforts.

“China hopes that the decision will contribute to peaceful use of nuclear energy and international cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation,” the statement said.

Beijing’s statement is being seen as a move to assuage New Delhi which has conveyed its unhappiness over the Chinese position at the NSG meet. The tough negotiations in Vienna went down to the wire after China, which had sounded positive in the run-up to the NSG  meeting, took a different line creating problems for a consensus on the waiver.

Full news report here.

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Like someone mentioned, the only places of mourning after the NSG nod is Beijing, Islamabad and the headquarters of BJP and Communists. The BJP was the one who started the whole deal by starting talks with the US.  The BJP was on the verge of  signing the NPT which succesive Indian governments have vehemently opposed signing saying that its a discriminatory treaty.

What the Congress has managed is a far far superior deal than what BJP could do.  No wonder the heart burn among the chaddi gang and the name calling of the Prime Minister.  They simply cant believe that the wily sardar has simply stolen the thunder from right under their nose.

As for the commies, no comments.  One doesnt need to bother much about mad barking dogs.  Prakash Carrot Karat, Bardhan, Raja (all are on the Chinese payroll and hence loyal pets to their masters). They thrive in the gutters and are better left there.

Meanwhile i would love to see Advani’s sorry face.  He’s nowhere to be seen these days.  Maybe he’s reconciled to the fact that he might never be able to become the Prime Minister of India

The group of nations which regulates the global nuclear trade has approved a US proposal to lift restrictions on selling nuclear technology to India. The controversial deal now needs to be ratified by the US Congress before it can be implemented.

India says the deal is vital for it to meet its civil energy demands. The approval came after India pledged to keep its nuclear non-proliferation commitments and to uphold a voluntary moratorium on testing atomic weapons.

The real leaders in the whole deal has been none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and George Bush. Though Bush had nothing to lose even in case the deal fell through, it was Manmohan Singh who staked his career and reputaion at the altar of the nuclear deal.  He’s been called the “weakest Prime Minister” by the eternal Prime minister in waiting LK Advani (he never will sit on that seat).  After decimating the opposition in the no confidence deal, the Prime Minister has marshalled his troops for a fine victory at the NSG.

For months, the oscillation continued till Manmohan Singh upped the ante saying he could not renege on this international commitment on a deal he firmly believed was the best for India. Despite critics from within his party, the support of the Gandhis gave him the backing he needed and it was a transformed prime minister who faced Parliament this July in a dramatic vote of confidence.

Eventually the government emerged victorious with a new ally and without the Left. Closely watching India’s domestic battle over the deal was the White House, the deal a personal legacy for an embattled President Bush. After the Iraq fiasco, the Indo-US nuclear agreement was seen by him as a foreign policy coup and a huge opportunity for American business, something he was willing to go the extra mile for.

On Saturday, as China threatened a walk out, President Bush picked up the phone and called his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, a toned down version of his infamous, ‘you are with us, or against us’ rhetoric.  A pact clinched by two men who couldn’t be more unlike each other, one a flamboyant Texan known for his foreign policy gaffes, the other a mild mannered economist turned politician.

In the end however, the two men came together to push through a historic deal for India amid huge domestic and international opposition.

Above pictures and news courtesy: IBNlive, NDTV, Atomic Archive

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