MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev)
A concert in the three thousand-year-old Purana Qila, the Old Fort in Delhi, will be grandiose and full of symbolism - a duet of a sitar and cello, balalaika, janglers, a chorus, a powerful laser show, and water-screen effects.
The symbols are obvious - eternal India and eternal Russia in the technically sophisticated 21st century.
This phrase is missing a verb. Perhaps it would be appropriate to say that the two countries are restoring old contacts. True, they did not sever these contacts in the 1990s, but their nature changed a great deal. The Year of Russia in India, which starts on February 12, when Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov arrives in India and the concert takes place, should not so much restore the old ties as give a powerful impetus to them.
The two countries are developing ties but not without difficulties.
The Year of Russia in India actually began earlier, when Russia took part in the New Delhi Book Fair as a guest of honor. It was attended by many people looking for Russian books in English and Hindu.
The number of Russian-speaking people in India is smaller than in Vietnam (an estimated 140,000), but the minimal estimate of 30,000 does not seem an exaggeration. Moreover, in the 1990s Russian departments at universities were all but shut down, whereas now there is an obvious increase in the number of Indians who want to study Russian with the hope of finding a job either in Russia or in India. There is at least one publishing house, Zlatoust, that is restoring, with great difficulty, the system of supplying Indians with Russian textbooks. But as for modern Russian literature in India, or Indian literature in Russia, the picture is rather gloomy, although both have an excellent market potential.
The Second Russian-Indian Forum on Trade and Investments, which will take place in New Delhi simultaneously with Zubkov's visit, will illustrate the status of business ties. Participants in the forum may even argue about the scale of bilateral trade. The Indian figures may differ substantially from four billion dollars that are usually quoted by Russia. Be it as it may, but this is 10 times less than the relevant figure for Russia's trade with China or India's trade with China. In the meantime, the foreign trade of both countries is obviously on the upsurge.
Major mutual investments into energy projects in Russia and India seem to have better prospects. But the most important of them are far ahead, just like a final agreement on four additional nuclear reactors in Kudankulam.
Military contacts are a key field of cooperation. On the one hand, the sum of contracts signed in this sphere in 2007 is a record for bilateral relations. On the other hand, on the eve of several multi-billion international tenders for arms supplies to India, the Indians are increasingly criticizing their Russian partners for high prices and unreliable supply of spare parts.
This situation is typical for many pre-tender PR clashes. But spare parts should be delivered on time, especially now that the character of our cooperation has changed, and our military partnership has ceased being almost exclusive.
I have already mentioned the transitional nature of bilateral ties. How can they be defined in general? The two countries are not military allies (and will never be) but strategic partners in such fields as nuclear energy, defense and space. They are upgrading joint military exercises, and cooperating in the production and even development of arms, and transfer of technologies.
This is a rather accurate description of key spheres of Russian-Indian cooperation. But in fact this is how Ronen Sen, Indian Ambassador to the United States, spoke about relations between America and India. Indicatively, their trade is $40 billion a year.
Former Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal warned in an article published in the Indian Express against limiting bilateral ties to military-technical cooperation because in this case the loss of one tender triggers off powerful political complications. The ambassador advised the two countries to promote economic contacts in order to balance out their relations.
This duel between the ambassadors reflects the situation whereby every country wants to develop ties with future global leader India. Fixed military alliances have become a thing of the past, and diversification of contacts has become the norm.
There is one major difference between Russian and American relations with India. The United States has a 2.5 million-strong Indian community. It is a prosperous community that maintains permanent contacts with the homeland, and exerts substantial influence on the New Delhi political elite. The Indians proudly watch the life of their compatriots in America. They note that there is always a smart Indian on the election teams of all U.S. presidential candidates.
The absence of an Indian community in Russia and several others factors showing that the public is not ready for the age of open borders and respectful communication between civilizations are making Russia less competitive as a global power.
The Year of Russia in India and the subsequent Year of India in Russia are pursuing numerous goals. We should not try to restore the "friendship of nations" dating back to the 1970s. Instead, we should develop a new system of ties, whereby more Russians would feel at home in India and vice versa.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
