Venkatesh Varma: there are no obstacles for fulfilling agreement on S-400 supply
RIA Novosti, 22.01.2020
Russian-Indian talks were held in New Delhi on January 15 as part of a working visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to India, focusing on topical issues of the special privileged strategic partnership of our countries, which will mark exactly 20 years old in the beginning of 2020. Indian Ambassador to Russia Datla Bala Venkatesh Varma, in an interview with RIA Novosti, Elena Protopopova, spoke about the "new heights" that Moscow and New Delhi are striving for in relations, including in such an important area as nuclear energy and military-technical cooperation.
- What topics were the focus of Russian-Indian talks that took place in New Delhi during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to India?
- The visit of Minister Lavrov to Delhi was very successful. He met with his colleague Dr. Jaishankar. This is the second meeting of the two ministers after August last year, when Dr. Jayshankar came to Moscow. Mr. Lavrov met with the Prime Minister of India, he also spoke for the first time at the Raisin Dialogue forum. He spoke at the most important panel, his speech was very expected, it aroused great interest in India. And such a reaction is quite natural. The Russian Foreign Minister is one of the most experienced foreign ministers in the world. He has extensive experience in the international arena, and he is an outstanding professional as it was demonstrated at his meetings in Delhi.
The main issues on the bilateral cooperation agenda, of course, were related to the implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of our Prime Minister to Vladivostok in September. The parties also agreed on a schedule for the current year. This schedule is busy, the agenda includes various issues, which is a confirmation of a very close and special strategic Russian-Indian partnership.
Our Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s invitation to visit Moscow to participate in Victory Day events. The day before Mr. Lavrov’s visit to Delhi, our Prime Minister and President Putin had a telephone conversation. Our Prime Minister confirmed this visit in May. The Prime Minister of India will also visit St. Petersburg in July to participate in the BRICS and SCO summits. And President Putin will visit India by the end of the year, possibly in October in order to participate in the Russian-Indian summit. The leaders of our countries are also likely to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, we expect at least four occasions for our leaders to meet this year.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of our strategic partnership. The leaders agreed, which was also confirmed during Lavrov’s visit at the meeting with the Prime Minister that there will be a special program of events in honor of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. Expectations are very high. We hope that the Russian-Indian relations will reach a new level and even greater heights.
If we talk about regional issues, a number of them were discussed at the negotiations. Minister Lavrov outlined positions on such important topics as the situation in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Libya, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf. An exchange of views took place. Russia and India have a lot in common to move forward.
Minister Lavrov presented Russia’s position on the situation in Libya, spoke about Russia's efforts to achieve peace in Libya, which are now in action. We know that a ceasefire is in effect. The recent conference in Berlin has been very successful. This result is the sRussian diplomacy’s success, which we very much welcome.
At the negotiations in New Delhi, the parties also exchanged views on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region. Of course, we may have different interests, but I think that it was on this topic that Lavrov’s speech at the Raisin Dialog forum aroused considerable interest. I think that Russia and India have common goals in creating an international system in our region that is non-confrontational, based on deep cooperation.
- What other official visits are expected this year?
- Our Foreign Minister will visit Vladivostok to participate in the tripartite meeting of the RIC - Russia, India, China. It will be held March 23 in Vladivostok.
- Will the RIC Foreign Ministers take part in it?
- Yes, the foreign ministers of the three countries will meet in Vladivostok on March 23. We have confirmed our participation in this meeting.
- What other bilateral contacts are expected?
- Last year there were a number of visits of Indian officials to Russia. Now we are expecting return visits. Defense Minister Shoigu will visit India by the end of the year. Industry Minister Manturov plans to visit India in February to attend the DEFEXPO exhibition, which will be held this year in Lucknow. We also expect our speaker to visit Moscow within a year - the time has not yet been determined. There is a proposal for a visit to India, Mrs. Matvienko. We have a busy schedule of contacts.
- By the way, has the Indian side already had contacts with the new Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Mishustin?
- Our Prime Minister is going to send congratulations to Mr. Mishustin. You know, it only happened on Friday…
- Let us return to the topic of negotiations, or rather, issues of cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. In 2017, the construction of the second phase of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant began. Is there any information about when the third and fourth blocks of this queue will be launched?
- The cooperation of India and Russia in the field of nuclear energy has a long history. We have already signed a contract for six blocks of Kudankulam. The first and second blocks are already working. The third and fourth are still under construction. There is a slight lag behind the construction schedule - from 8 to 10 months. We hope that during the year 2020 this lag will be eliminated. We are confident that cooperation in the energy sector will continue. We are looking forward to the visit of the head of Rosatom, Mr. Likhachev, to India in the first half of this year to revise our cooperation. On the whole, we see no obstacles to Russian-Indian cooperation in the field of peaceful atom.
