'No limitations, restrictions in Russia-India relationship'

Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister of Russia, in an exclusive conversation with rediff.com’s Sheela Bhatt says, what Russia can do and has done for India nobody can do.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as expected, have not announced any big decisions on new nuclear power plants in Tamil Nadu or energy partnership, which was announced in a big way between China and Russia on Sunday. But the brief address to the media by the leaders reconfirmed all was fine, routine and unchanged.  

“I would like to say that we are strategic partners. What Russia can do and has done for India nobody can do,” said Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister of Russia and co-chairman of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission, in an exclusive conversation with rediff.com.

In an interesting talk soon after the meet with the Russian media, Rogozin said Russia had offered India the air defence system. India has not yet responded. It’s believed that India is reluctant to take up the offer.

Rogozin also said that India is interested in a greater involvement in the GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) project, which will have two tracking centres in India.

Russia and China have a fast-growing trade relation. On the eve of Dr Singh’s talk with President Putin, Russia’s biggest oil company Rosneft decided to give a share of its Siberian fields to China.

When asked about the diplomatic implications of it, Rogozin said, “This is the most important question.” Then, diplomatically, he said, “There is no limitation and there are no restrictions in Russia-India relationship.”

Image: Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin before the start of a signing ceremony in New Delhi

Photograph: Grigory Dukor/Reuters