"India-Russia partnership is strong, stable and rock-solid." - Ambassador Ajai Malhotra.
In his first interview to the Russian media new Ambassador of India in Moscow, Ajai Malhotra, told "Interfax" about ways of enhancement of bilateral cooperation in the military, energy, pharmaceutical and other spheres, possible easing of the visa regime between the countries and increasing potential of Russia-India trade and investment ties.
Q2. Mr. Ambassador, let us first congratulate you with your new job in Moscow. What new do you intend to introduce into the Indo-Russian relations? What will be your top priorities during your work in Moscow?
Ans: Thank you. This is a fascinating and challenging time to be India's Ambassador to the Russian Federation. India is emerging as one of the leading world economies and there is a fresh dynamism amongst our people and a collective optimism in our future. Equally, growth has resumed in Russia after the recent global economic slowdown and it has launched an ambitious economic modernization program. There is a very high degree of convergence in our interests that we will seek to exploit, while opening up new vistas for bilateral cooperation.
The India-Russia partnership is strong, stable and rock-solid. Our ties extend beyond close and regular political interaction at the Summit and other levels, to deep-seated, long-term cooperation in such key areas as space, defence, nuclear energy, and S&T. These segments are developing at a healthy pace and we will continue to promote them as a matter of high importance.
We will put in effort to see that trade and investment in identified priority sectors such as oil & gas, pharmaceuticals and information technology, reflect the size of our economies and our complementarities in those sectors. Cooperation would also be enhanced in such diverse fields as biotechnology, nanotechnology, medical sciences and meteorology, for example.
Relations between countries must also be rooted in close ties between peoples. We will support initiatives that enhance people-to-people exchanges, such as between our academics, entrepreneurs, journalists, parliamentarians, youth, artistes and others.
Q2. You already worked several times at the Embassy in Moscow before. In your opinion, what has changed in the Indo-Russian relations since your previous spell here? Are these changes for the better or for the worse?
Ans: Our countries established diplomatic relations several months before India became independent in 1947. It is very satisfying for me to see that from modest beginnings at that stage, our ties have constantly developed to reach the elaborate Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership that we have today. Our effort now is to advance it even further to a qualitatively new level.
For over half a century, there has been a unique political consensus in both our countries, cutting across party lines and ideological divides, that supports close India-Russia ties. There is an unprecedented level of goodwill and trust between us. Both our countries are enhancing their engagement with the rest of the world, but that will never be at the cost of our resolute and time-tested friendship.
Q3. A lot is said these days about the significance of people to people contacts, of grass root diplomacy. But still citizens of our countries have to obtain visas for mutual visits. Is it possible to introduce a visa free regime in the near future? How long can it take – a couple of years, five years, ten or even more?
Ans: We have in place a visa-free regime for diplomatic and official passport holders that facilitates regular official contacts, but such a regime for others is not on the horizon.
With the interests of our citizens in mind we signed in December 2010 an Inter-Governmental Agreement on Simplification of Requirements for Mutual Travels of Certain Categories of Citizens. It will benefit travel between our two countries by businessmen and tourists.
We also intend to liberalise and streamline the delivery of tourist visas to aid two-way tourist flows. Such flows have picked up, especially from Russia to India, with Goa, New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Kulu-Manali as major attractions. Last year we issued nearly 100,000 visas to Russian citizens. I expect this number may rise to about 125,000 this year.
Q4. India and Russia previously set a goal of reaching a trade volume of 10 billion dollars by 2010. Do we have any more ambitious, more aggressive plans in this area now? Could you specify some numbers?
Ans: Trade between India and Russia is well below potential. In 2010, our bilateral trade was US$ 8.5 billion, and fell short of the target of US$ 10 billion that we had set. The India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation has set an ambitious new trade target of US$ 20 billion by 2015. To achieve it our business communities will have to intensively explore new areas of cooperation.
India can be a strong and reliable partner in Russia's modernization efforts. Our companies today have the capacity to invest and the technological edge in many sectors. India can be a technology source for Russia in information technology, pharmaceuticals and hydrocarbon processing. It can also be a dependable partner for long-term arrangements concerning hydrocarbons, diamond-processing and agriculture production.
We also need to enhance bilateral investment. Indian investments in Russia are estimated at US$ 6.5 billion, predominantly in the energy sector, but also in mining, engineering products, agro-products and pharmaceuticals. There have been encouraging trends in recent Russian investments into India, with about US$ 1 billion of investment taking place, primarily in telecommunications sector, besides the automobile, energy and mining sectors. Recently, Indian company NMDC Ltd and SEVERSTAL of Russia have agreed to set up a joint venture for an integrated steel plant in Karnataka at an estimated cost US$ 3 billion.
Q5. Our countries agreed to give a boost to cooperation in the pharmaceuticals industry. Are there any tangible results already? Could you, please, name any successful joint projects in this field?
Ans: The pharmaceuticals sector has indeed been identified as a priority area for our cooperation. India is an ideal partner for Russia in its efforts to develop and modernize its pharmaceuticals industry. It is already a reliable supplier to Russia of competitively priced, quality generic drugs. Indian products have a reputation for quality, price and reliability in the international healthcare market. Our companies have the technology and the capacity to invest. Several leading Indian pharmaceutical companies intend setting up manufacturing units in Russia, within the framework of the Pharma 2020 programme of the Russian Government. Indian companies such as Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, M.J. Biopharm Pvt. Ltd., and Naprod Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., have recently concluded partnership agreements with leading Russian companies.
It is important that Governments support the efforts of industry by creating a conducive milieu. Accordingly, we have proposed an inter-governmental agreement for mutual recognition of clinical trials and bio-equivalence studies. Discussions are also underway to conclude an inter-governmental MOU on drug quality and safety standards.
Q6. Both our countries suffered much from terrorism. Are India and Russia going to strengthen cooperation in combating international terrorism, in coordinating the two countries' activities in preventing terrorist attacks?
Ans: India and Russia already cooperate very closely in the bilateral and multilateral contexts in combating terrorism. We reject terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and firmly believe that there is no justification whatsoever for it. Counter-terrorism cooperation between us is progressing well. Our diplomats have also been working together for several years at the United Nations for the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
Q7. Military cooperation has long been one of the pillars of the Indo-Russian ties. However, Russia recently failed to win a multibillion tender for supplying India jet fighters. Doesn't it mean a downturn in the military cooperation between our countries and a reorientation of India to some other arms suppliers?
Ans: India-Russia defence cooperation has indeed been for long one of the main pillars of our strategic partnership. There is no better testimony to the success of this aspect of our cooperation than the fact that all branches of India's armed forces use a large percentage of Russian defence equipment and systems.
The results of the comparative technical evaluation recently conducted by the Indian Air Force for the acquisition of a Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft, have been shared with the concerned Russian company. At the same time, it is worth recalling that there are numerous instances of acquisitions for India's armed forces where Russian companies have proved highly competitive and emerged as our valued and preferred partners.
In recent years our defence ties have also been radically transformed from a simple buyer-seller relationship to a dynamic one that involves not just purchase of equipment, but joint research, development, production and marketing of advanced defence systems. A host of flagship projects testifying to this fundamental transformation are underway, e.g., the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft project, the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft project, and projects for the manufacture of Brahmos missiles, T-90 tanks and SU-30MKI fighter aircraft in India.
We will continue to further expand India-Russia defence cooperation in a long-term perspective, while deepening service-to-service ties.
Q8. Have India and Russia set final terms of supplying the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to India?
Ans: Yes. The final terms and the schedule for the delivery of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (ex Admiral Gorshkov) were settled some time ago. We are satisfied with the pace of work for its upgrade and refit. We expect to take delivery of the INS Vikramaditya as per an agreed schedule. Its arrival will mark a major addition to India's naval punch and capabilities.
Q9. Central Asian countries and Russia now discuss a project of constructing a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to India. Is India interested in the project and is New Delhi ready to invest into it?
Ans: The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project is relevant for India in the context of our quest for enhanced energy security as well as greater regional cooperation. Agreements on this project were concluded during the TAPI Summit, held in Ashgabat in December 2010. It involves construction of a 1,680 km pipeline and would make available 3.2 billion cubic feet of gas daily to the three recipient countries. We look forward to cooperating in moving it ahead.
Q10. How would you generally define the level of the Indo-Russian energy cooperation? Are there any major joint projects to come in the near future?
Ans: The energy sector illustrates the strong complementarities between our economies – Russia is a major producer of energy, while India is one of the fastest growing energy consumers. It also provides an excellent vehicle for a quantum increase in bilateral trade, investment and business-to-business ties. While our countries are successfully collaborating in nuclear energy, we have also made a good beginning in hydrocarbons. India's ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has made a large investment in Sakhalin-I and bought Imperial Energy, which operates in the Tomsk region of Western Siberia. With the aim of boosting India-Russia cooperation in hydrocarbons, a framework Inter-Governmental Agreement for Enhancement of Cooperation in Oil and Gas Sector was concluded at the Annual Summit in December 2010. At the business-to-business level, OVL also concluded a Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Hydrocarbon Sector with Russia's JSFC Sistema during the same Annual Summit.
OVL and other Indian companies are seriously exploring several options for making further major investments in the hydrocarbons sector in Russia. We look forward to enhancing our partnership in hydrocarbons and making cooperation in oil and natural gas yet another major pillar of our multifaceted relationship.
Q11. Has Indian leadership made any changes in their plans of development of peaceful use of atomic energy after the tragic events in the Japanese Fukushima NPP?
Soon after the Fukushima tragedy, the Indian Prime Minister ordered checks on safety of our NPPs. As you know, Indian NPPs produce almost 5,000 MWs of energy. We are satisfied with our cooperation with Russia in this sphere, and I am sure that the checks will not affect it, because your NPPs have a very good reputation and they are completely different from those in Fukushima.
Moscow, 3 June 2011
