A friendship between Russia and India never governed by transient political factors

The beauty of Indo-Russian relations is that it is a friendship not subject to political changes. In fact, this relationship has had a strategic partnership backbone from the very beginning, says Alexander M. Kadakin, ambassador of Russia in India

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership that will be marked by the official visit of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India on December 21 and 22.

Russia was the first country in the world that offered India to bring bilateral relations to such a high level of interaction.

Russian-Indian relations are characterised by one unique feature that is a friendship not subject to political changes. In fact, our relations had a strategic partnership backbone from the very inception.

The Soviet Union provided broad political and economic support to independent India. It was carried out through assistance in building up Indian military potential (Indian armed forces are still equipped with our armaments); through creation of entire industries; through training of qualified personnel; and through the mutual support in international affairs.

Indians still recall those times with gratitude, as our country has always been their main partner and ally. In the early 90s, the dynamics of the Russian-Indian contacts were adversely affected by global shifts and domestic developments both in Russia and India as the two countries underwent a thorny period of political instability and economic reforms.

But the strong ties of friendship between our peoples as well as mutual trust, the absence of political contradictions, similarity of our positions on key international issues and the need for a strong and reliable partner became the foundation for the gradual raise of our relations to their current high level.

Since the 1990s, India has been building up ties with the United States and other Western countries. Some of them are already established and some are moving towards strategic partnership with India. But it would be fundamentally wrong to claim that the pro-Western orientation has gained the upper hand in Indian policy.

For New Delhi, national interests have always been of paramount importance with the multilateral foreign policy, especially during the age of globalisation.

Russian-Indian cooperation has preserved its unique niche. Our need for each other is not dictated by ideology, but rather by actual political and economic necessity.

Modern India is one of the largest world economies with the GNP over 1 trillion dollars. The average annual economic growth rates throughout the last decade were constantly at 7% and the current fiscal year might boast of even 9% growth.

Even the global economic crisis didn't manage to shake the pillars of the Indian economy. The country with a population of 1.2 billion (where the number of middle-class people reaches 400 million), maintains a high level of domestic demand with a lion's share of locally produced goods.

India occupies fourth place in the world in terms of the amount of its currency reserves that exceed $ 290 billion. In most industries, transfer of advanced technologies is the essential condition for foreign companies willing to enter the Indian market.

India accounts for a quarter of the global pharmaceutical turnover. It has become one of the leading software producers. In fact, India has overtaken Russia in many key development indicators. All this makes us take a new look at India.

The distinctive feature of Russian-Indian relations nowadays is the exceptional intensity of political contacts with summits every year or even more often, meetings of bilateral intergovernmental commissions on cooperation, expanding ties between the regions of the two countries. Indian leaders are frequent guests at various international conferences in Russia, including the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum.

Russia is the only country in the world that offers India razor-edge military technologies including submarines on sale and joint production of state-of-the-art weapon systems.

A shining example of the high level of military and technical cooperation is the development of Brahmos missiles, the fifth-generation fighter jet, the multi-purpose military transport aircraft, and introduction of the GLONASS navigation system in India.

Space exploration is another rapidly expanding sphere for joint efforts.

Another strategically important vista is nuclear cooperation. India which is not a signatory to either the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Agreement on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban has managed to convince the world community of its responsible approach to nuclear non-proliferation issues and it offers new opportunities for deepening our cooperation.

We are a step ahead of other countries in the sphere of building up the Indian civil nuclear capacity. While our competitors only think of entering the Indian market, the Atomstroyexport open joint-stock company is about to finish two 1000 Megawatt reactors in Kudankulam and has prospective plans for more nuclear power plants to be built on other sites in India.

Certainly, the level of Russian-Indian trade and economic cooperation could have been much more impressive. Immaturity of the Russian financial and banking sector, excessive red tape at both ends, the outdated perception of India as a third world country, and the dramatic lack of information about the state and society development at the grass-root level remain the problems.

Nevertheless, the growth rate of our trade and economic relations is clearly showing very positive trends. If in 2000, our trade turnover was around 1-1.5 billion dollars, by the end of this year it is expected to reach 9.5-10 billion. And this is not a limit.

The huge economic potential of Russia and India warrants a search for new common economic interests. We have reasons to believe that the goal of bringing the trade turnover to 20 billion dollars by 2015 is totally realistic and feasible.

Modern Russian-Indian trade and economic relations combine both traditional vistas of bilateral cooperation (metallurgy, power industry, machine building) and new forms that let us make the full use of scientific and economic achievements.

Primarily, it refers to establishing joint enterprises in various industries - telecom, nanotechnology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, as well as the broad range of joint scientific projects including those in Skolkovo, car manufacturing, titanium production and bank cooperation.

The major task is to place the existing potential at the service of economic modernisation and innovative development. These issues will be in the focus of the visit of President Medvedev.

Altogether the advantages of both Russia and India - significant market volume, growing economies, high level of education, political stability - along with traditional friendship and trust between our two nations, create most favourable preconditions to further enhance scope and level of the bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

The forthcoming Russian-Indian summit will symbolise the renewed approach and vision of our bilateral relations towards modernisation and innovation. Both countries are firmly committed to further develop a multifaceted and strategic partnership and maintain the existing level of highest confidence and intensive contacts.