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No arms sales to Pakistan, promises Primakov

Suhasini Haidar in New Delhi

Russia has reiterated its old pledge not to sell any military hardware to Pakistan.

A statement, issued at the end of Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov' s visit to India, said the premier assured that his country understands India's concerns on the issue.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has protested against any alliance between India and Russia.

By any standard of bilateral relations, the just-concluded talks between the two countries has been extremely successful. Seven agreements were signed on Tuesday, outlining mutual co-operation in virtually every field of shared interest.

Foreign ministry sources said the two were also close to concluding another agreement that would allow India to cut down on its debt repayment to Russia (currently estimated at $ 1 billion per annum), and use the money for developing infrastructure and information technology.

In a joint statement, the Indian and Russian sides said they "deplored last week's strikes on Iraq, and strongly urged for the restoration of a UN-brokered settlement."

In another development on Wednesday, Russia asked the United Nations Security Council to discuss the strikes on Iraq. The joint statement also said that India and Russia had discussed an expansion in the permanent membership of the Security Council.

"Russia considers India to be a strong and appropriate candidate for a permanent membership to the Security Council," the statement read.

There were satisfied smiles all around when Primakov left Palam Airport on Tuesday afternoon. Since 1993, India and Russia have signed 60 agreements.

Before leaving, Primakov attended a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry about trade opportunities between India and Russia. "India is our dependable partner," he said addressing a group of Indian and Russian businessmen, "And I am sure that India will play an increasing role in the Russian economy."

He also outlined certain measures to boost foreign investment and joint ventures in Russia. Among these were proposals to cut taxes on production, value-added taxes as well as taxes on profits.

Primakov said he was aware of the concern amongst potential investors about the future of the market economy under his administration. The Russian premier, who has a doctorate in economics, is known for his anti-free-market views, and many fear Russia might revert to its socialist economic policies under him. However, he emphasised that the government was committed to developing "all forms of ownership", and that no investor need worry on this account.

A point of worry amongst observers of Indo-Russian relations has been the declining bilateral trade in the last decade. From a peak of $ 5.5 billion in 1990, the trading figure this year has come down to $ 1.5 billion. Referring to this, Primakov expressed confidence that due to the agreements signed now "India and Russia will double their bilateral trade by 2000, and quadruple it by 2005".

Primakov and his delegation left by a Russian plane for Kazakhstan. A visit is expected early next year from another delegation, headed by President Boris Yeltsin. It is expected that a wide-ranging agreement on "strategic partnership" between both countries would be discussed then.

EARLIER REPORTS:
India, Russia sign seven agreements
India, Russia move closer to 'strategic alliance'
Pakistan feels China won't play Russian ball

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