Russia should stop looking down on India / Moscow unhappy with U.S. missile deployment plans / United States to retain Manas base in Kyrgyzstan for another year / Russian business in no hurry to resume operations in Iraq /

Kommersant, Gazeta.ru

Russia should stop looking down on India

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin goes to New Delhi on Thursday for a two-day visit, the second top-level Russian-Indian meeting in the past four months.

However, many experts believe that despite the two countries' successful economic cooperation, especially in the defense sector, political interaction between the two potential strategic partners leaves much to be desired.

Putin's visit aims to resolve a major sticking point in bilateral relations: the plan to sign at long last an agreement on the price of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier upgrade and a related sales contract for 29 MiG-29K fighter jets. Russia and India will set up a joint venture to design a multi-use transport plane and sign a feasibility report on the planned fifth-generation fighter. Reports also say the two countries will sign a contract to build four generating units for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in southern India.

Although Russian-Indian military technical and nuclear cooperation has seen recent successes, analysts say that the general level of relations leaves much to be desired. "Mutual trade will not exceed $10 billion, which is laughable compared to India's trade with China or the United States," said Tatyana Shaumyan, head of the Indian studies center at Russia's Institute of Oriental Studies. "If we are to see our relations develop, we need to shed the 'USSR syndrome' and stop looking down on India. The Indians can also help us in the high-technology sector," she added.

Political cooperation is also a problem. "Although Russia and India have shared positions on many global issues, there has been no tangible joint action so far. True, there is the BRIC format, and the so called Russia-India-China triangle, which involve regular meetings, but these acronyms still lack real content," she said.

Vinay Shukla, head of the Press Trust of India news agency's Moscow bureau, recalls: "Ten years ago, in the fall of 2000, Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership declaration in Delhi. But the partnership was never built: trade never exceeded $3-4 billion. Despite regular summits and interaction through international forums, political relations between Russia and India stagnated. The Kremlin, which was bathing in petrodollars, still viewed India largely as a customer for the Russian defense industry. The Admiral Gorshkov case, which provoked an erosion of political trust, was a good lesson for India."

In his opinion, Putin now has a second chance to evaluate India's economic potential and to stop seeing the country exclusively as a customer for Russian arms and military equipment.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Kommersant, Gazeta.ru

Moscow unhappy with U.S. missile deployment plans

The new START treaty may not be signed before a non-proliferation summit scheduled for April 12-13 in Washington. Unofficially, negotiators are saying that practically everything has been agreed except the link between offensive and defensive weapons. Some experts believe Moscow has stalled the negotiations to demonstrate to Washington that it is unhappy about its planned missile defense deployment.

Experts and diplomats earlier wanted the START treaty to be signed before the multilateral meeting on nuclear security in Washington. Otherwise, they argued, Russia and the United States who on the one hand support "global nuclear zero" on the other showing their inability to reach mutual agreement on disarmament, would set a bad example for the other members of the nuclear club. But on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that no one was going to set a deadline for signature. It seems Washington is little troubled by its image.

Unofficially, negotiators are saying that practically everything in the document has been agreed except the link between offensive weapons and defensive ones, or missile defenses. A source close to the Geneva talks said Moscow had practically agreed with Washington that the relationship between START and missile defense would be directly reflected in the treaty, but the U.S. side later backed out. "The form this link takes is now debatable. We would like the missile defense issue to be binding and mentioned in the treaty as a commitment not to do anything that could enhance or devalue either side regarding missile defense," a Russian diplomat close to negotiations told Kommersant. He did not rule out, however, that this could be dealt with in an attachment to the new START treaty.

"Moscow decided to demonstrate its political displeasure with Washington, which has once again unilaterally decided to deploy a tactical missile system in southern Europe without consulting Russia," Alexei Arbatov, director of the Center for International Security at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta, commenting on the delay.

Even if defensive weapons are mentioned in the treaty, this step's significance should not be overrated, Major-General Vladimir Dvorkin, of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Gazeta-ru. "Ultimately, it would only be a declaration, even if it is legally sealed," the nuclear disarmament specialist said. Perhaps the Americans will meet the Russians half-way and offer Moscow some form of consultation over the stationing of missiles in Romania or other countries, he said.

Kommersant

United States to retain Manas base in Kyrgyzstan for another year

General David Petraeus, Commander of the U.S. Central Command, has visited Kyrgyzstan for talks with Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The Kyrgyz president said it is in Kyrgyzstan's interests to maintain security and stability in Afghanistan and therefore it will not be against the United States using its Manas international airport.

This means that Kyrgyzstan will not terminate the agreement according to which the United States is using Manas airport for transshipment of troops and military cargo to Afghanistan. The agreement expires on June 22 but can be automatically prolonged for another year unless one of the sides terminates it.

U.S. Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Halbrooke, met with the Kyrgyz leader on February 20 to discuss the issue. He said upon his return to Washington: "We will renew the arrangements in the next few weeks, and I wanted to launch that process."

Meanwhile, opponents of the U.S. military presence have become more active in Kyrgyzstan. The Council of Kyrgyz Aksakals (Elders) on Wednesday demanded that the base be closed and U.S. troops pulled out of the country.

Academician Omorbai Narbekov, a member of the council, said the demand was formulated after Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of terrorist group Jundollah (Soldiers of God), said the Americans are using the Manas base to train troops for overthrowing the Iranian regime.

Based in Pakistan, Jundollah claims to be fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran and is responsible for numerous attacks in Iran, targeting both civilians and military personnel.

"The United States made short shrift of Iraq and has turned on Iran, planning to destabilize the situation in Central Asia so as to involve the regional countries into their war, just as they did in the case of Afghanistan," Omorbai Narbekov said.

Another member of the council, a Mr. Samokhvalov, said: "There is no guarantee that Iran will not attack Kyrgyzstan tomorrow."

Iran's special forces arrested Rigi on February 23 on board of Kyrgyzstan's airliner Boeing 737. Iran later said that the arrested man had confessed to working for the secret services of the United States, Britain and Israel and that he was going to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, for a meeting with a high-ranking U.S. official at the transit base.

Izvestia

Russian business in no hurry to resume operations in Iraq

King Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein of Jordan, who arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, will today hold negotiations with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Both leaders will focus on the resumption of Russian business operations in Iraq.

Although Jordan is ready to mediate the process, Russian business is still in no hurry to return to Iraq, still a hot spot.

Russia is returning to Iraq via Jordan. According to the Institute of Middle East Studies, this is the right approach. First, the King of Jordan maintains a warm-hearted and even friendly relationship with Russia's leaders. For instance, King Abdulla II recently presented a land plot near the Jordan River, where Christ was baptized, to Russia.

Second, Jordan and Iraq maintain extremely close ties. Sunni Muslims dominating Iraq's corridors of power consider King Abdulla II a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and as such an incontestable authority. Moreover, most Jordanians have relatives in Iraq.

Analysts polled by the paper doubt whether Jordan, a good mediator, will be of any help. "We lost contracts worth $300 million during the war," said an oil company official who does not plan to return to Iraq.

He went on to say that politicians had ruined his business. First, they did not negotiate Russia's possible involvement in rebuilding the Iraqi economy with the United States. Then they thought better of it and forgave $12 billion in Iraqi debt, but this did not help, he said.

The Institute of Middle East Studies said that under US Vice President Dick Cheney, who oversaw Iraqi projects, Iraq was closed to Russia. All contracts were awarded to American companies. The situation has now improved, albeit marginally.

"I am ready to send my workers to the remotest places in Siberia or Kazakhstan, but Iraq is out of the question because no one can guarantee their safety," the oil company official said.

Another major oil company official said his company's Iraqi office was located in Amman, Jordan, that corporate employees were going to Iraq this Friday, but that he was extremely worried.

Not a single company polled by the paper plans to attend the 9th Annual Russian Industrial Exhibition Expo-Russia 2010, scheduled to be held in Amman, March 24-26, 2010.

Exhibition organizers are confident that the upcoming event will enable Russian business to take part in rebuilding the Iraqi economy.

"We are looking at Iraq and licking our lips. Not more than 10% of the country's territory has been connected to the gas system. We have ample opportunities," a spokesman for a company building "local" gas pipelines told the paper.

"If we get the green light, we'll all go," a construction company source said.

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MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti)