Russia reassures its support to India for permanent seat in UNSC and membership for NSG
Monitoring Desk: India and Russia signed today the St. Petersburg Declaration for enhancing their bilateral relations in military, economic and diplomatic spheres.
According to the “St. Petersburg Declaration”, Russia would support India for her candidature for a permanent seat in United Nations Security Council and for the membership in Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Both countries would jointly provide civil nuclear energy expertise to third countries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held detail meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Thursday and both countries released joint “St. Petersburg Declaration” after their meeting.
Both countries would go for their first ever Tri-services exercise INDRA-2017 engaging their armies in sky, land and sea military exercises.
We have adopted the St. Petersburg declaration which will not only improve our ties but also will be a benchmark of global stability: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 1, 2017
Both countries would upgrade and intensify their military hardware through joint manufacture co-production and co-development of military hardware and military spares while sharing future technologies in compliance with the obligations of the sides under the existing agreements on military-technical cooperation. However, the long standing issue of supplying S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems to India was not included in Declaration.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told media in St Petersburg that both the the countries were discussing the issue of S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile.
Both the countries announced that to promote Indian-Russian trade in national currencies to reduce dependence on other currencies. Such arrangement would ensure that both the countries would not trade in US dollar.
The issue of civil war in Afghanistan is also included in joint Declaration and both the countries agreed upon to the framework of the Moscow dialogue (referring to Moscow Afghan Peace Conference that took place in Moscow) using the laid down principles of national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs while encouraging the countries to lead the change from within.
Both the countries reiterated their commitment to build effective infrastructure for the International North South Transport Corridor (NSRC) and implementation of the Green Corridor. NSRC links India with Russia through Iran and Central Asia while bypassing Pakistan—the archrival of India.
The problem of international terrorism and joint efforts to combat international terrorism was also included in joint Declaration. Both countries were convinced that threat required decisive collective response on part of the entire global community without double standards and selectivity in accordance with international law and the UN Charter
India and Russia will also work for developing high speed railways and Russia would provide technical support to India for high speed train networking for Indian freight corridors.
