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By Amit Baruah
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, during an interview in Moscow on Friday. — Photo: Vladimir Radyuhin
``We take note of the statements made by President Musharraf that the military potential of his country is safely protected, strictly under control. But, to be frank, our concerns, our anxiety, still persist,'' said Mr. Putin in an interview to The Hindu and the NDTV. The Russian President, who will be in India from December 3 to 5, said his concerns extended beyond the fact that Pakistani nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. ``Not only is that dangerous, but we also have concerns they (terrorists) could obtain information concerning techniques of even simple means that could be equal to weapons of mass destruction in their destructive potential.'' Speaking at his official residence in the Kremlin late on Thursday night, Mr. Putin stressed that Russia was a ``guarantor'' of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and would insist on fulfilling its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Mr. Putin, who will be travelling directly to New Delhi after visiting China, was clear that there was a future for developing the Russia, China, India triangle. ``We are convinced of the need for positive development of relations between Russia and India, Russia and China and China and India. I think that all parties within this triangle are interested in this development.'' ``At the same time, I think we shouldn't get ahead of time or move ahead without proper preparation. We should move step-by-step trying to develop harmonious relations....our aspiration, overall, should be to develop our relations in as positive a way as possible,'' he maintained. Asked about Russian arms sales to China given its border dispute with India, Mr. Putin pointed to Moscow's experience in tackling border problems with Beijing. ``Given goodwill on both sides, any problem can be resolved. We also hope that the questions that are still not resolved, outstanding questions, or issues, between China and India, will be resolved.'' ``There is no conflict now between China and India and I hope there will be no conflict in the future. The more we keep developing relations within the triangle, to which you have referred, the more successful we will be in achieving that positive result.'' On India-Russia bilateral relations, the President said the experience gathered by the two countries in joint military cooperation should be transferred to the civilian sector. ``We are already engaged in joint development and production of high-tech, very complex and very promising weapons' systems. This is something that we do not do with other countries. We think this experience should be exploited, should be transferred to our civil cooperation.'' Mr. Putin readily conceded that trade between the two countries was ``inadmissibly'' low. ``In recent years, it has not exceeded $1.5 billion. For our two great countries, it is much too low.'' The President held out the possibility of India associating with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), where Russia and China have taken the lead in dealing with the terrorist threat. ``We are prepared to engage in consultations with our Indian partners and our partners within the SCO in order to determine what capacity, to what extent, India would like to and participate in the work of the Organisation. At a later stage, we could take a proper decision. I think that India's participation in joint work within that Organisation would help to enhance (its) role....'' Mr. Putin said he understood, ``emotionally'', the United States President, George W.Bush's position on Iraq after the barbaric September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and would not like to ``demonise'' the American position. ``At the same time, it has always been our position that decisions of that kind (military action against Iraq) are solely within the competence of the United Nations. It is only the Security Council that can take decisions of that kind,'' he said, adding that all parties concerned, including Iraq, should abide by Resolution 1441. Here, Mr. Putin may be referring to American adherence to the resolution as well. Welcoming the Indian and Pakistani decision to pull back troops from the border, the Russian President, in a view quite close to the U.S. and European Union, said that in recent times Gen. Musharraf had taken a number of ``resolute steps'' to combat terrorism. Rather than put all the blame on the Pakistani leader for ``negative developments'', there was a need to ``stimulate him'' to continue with such a policy. ``We have the right to hope that his actions will be sincere....and effective. Otherwise, all talk on this matter would make no sense.'' About the presence of American troops in Central Asia and Afghanistan, the Russian President said the U.S. had repeatedly said it had no intention of staying in Afghanistan longer than was necessary to deal with the problems there. ``We consider ourselves as a member of the international anti-terror coalition and we hope all the actions taken in combating terrorism will be concerted action. And, so far, it has been exactly that way. We hope it will stay that way.'' Details of Interview under 'International' section.
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