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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 003114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KNUC KNNP ECON TSPA RS IN
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MEDVEDEV INDIA VISIT CONFIRMS CIV-NUKE 
ASSISTANCE, CONTINUED DEFENSE COOPERATION, WARM TIES 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 2764 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 ( 
B, D) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev capped 
off a 24 hour visit to India by delivering as promised on 
agreements for civil nuclear, space and defense cooperation. 
Medvedev expressed Russia's solidarity with India in the war 
on terror in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, reiterating a 
commitment to strengthen international cooperation to combat 
terrorism.  Both sides called for greater Indo-Russian 
interaction in a host of regional organizations, including 
the Russia-China-India trilateral dialogue, the ASEAN 
Regional Forum, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and 
the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) format.  Repeating 
past statements, the two sides called for the Iranian nuclear 
issue to be settled through dialogue and negotiation, 
agreeing that Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy 
for peaceful purposes.  Medvedev's visit was part of a series 
of scheduled annual summits, this time to close the "Year of 
Russia in India."  End Summary. 
 
----- Reassurance of a long-standing friendship ----- 
 
¶2. (C) President Medvedev arrived in India late on December 4 
for what was billed as a three-day visit but essentially 
contained one full working day, cut short when Medvedev 
departed on the evening of December 5 to return to Moscow for 
memorial services for Russian Orthodox Church patriarch Alexi 
II.  The visit was part of the ongoing annual India-Russia 
summits, and marked the official closure of "The Year of 
Russia in India," which included over 150 seminars, meetings 
and cultural events in India.  Russian Embassy Political 
Counselor Valery Khodzaev told Poloff the visit had "exceeded 
expectations," although in Post's view the "deliverables" of 
Medvedev's visit were items already agreed to and generally 
available to the public, and/or reaffirmations of past 
positions.  (Reftel, a readout of Foreign Minister Lavrov's 
visit to India on October 20, previewed all of the major 
deliverables from the Medvedev visit.)  Hardnews editor 
Sanjay Kapoor opined to Poloff that Medvedev's visit was 
essentially pro forma in substance, however it  provided both 
country's leaders with a tangible reference for reassuring 
their publics that relations between the two old friends 
remain strong, despite appearances that they may be slipping. 
 "India and Russia have been looking for a way to reassure 
each other that their long-standing friendship is still 
there," Kapoor said. 
 
----- Civ-Nuke cooperation gains headlines ----- 
 
¶3. (C) Pro forma or not, Medvedev was able to gain coverage 
in Delhi -- no small task given the Indian public's attention 
to the aftermath of the November 26-28 terror attacks in 
Mumbai -- with several announcements, most prominently an 
agreement confirming cooperation to construct four new (in 
addition to the two existing) nuclear power plant units at 
the Kudankulam site in Tamil Nadu.  Khodzaev denied press 
reports that India and Russia also discussed an additional 
two nuclear plants (which would bring the total to eight), 
pointing out that it took eight years to get the first two 
plants operational, while also noting that Russia had a 
backlog for building nuclear plants due to orders from 
Bulgaria, China and elsewhere.  He added that the first of 
the four new plants could be commissioned as early as the end 
of 2008. 
 
----- Space cooperation in manned flight, satellites ------ 
 
¶4. (C) Also making news, in addition to the civ-nuke 
agreement, India and Russia signed a Memorandum of 
Understanding for joint activities in the field of space. 
Khodzaev described the space discussions as having two parts: 
one which aims to have Russia send an Indian cosmonaut into 
space (press reported as early as 2013), then assist in 
launching a manned Indian spacecraft in 2015; the other a 
generalized commitment to cooperate on the Russian Global 
Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).  Prime Minister Singh 
stated that this space agreement signaled a new milestone in 
 
NEW DELHI 00003114  002 OF 004 
 
 
the two countries' history of cooperation in the field. 
 
----- Defense cooperation to move ahead; 80 helicopters sold 
----- 
 
¶5. (C) With the defense relationship under criticism in 
recent months as Russia's reliability as a supplier has come 
to be questioned at the same time as competition for the 
Indian market has heated up, the two sides went to great 
lengths to highlight their desire for greater overall defense 
cooperation.  Prior to the visit, President Medvedev said 
that he wished to transform the Indo-Russian relationship 
from one of "buyer-seller" to one of partnership, and during 
the visit Prime Minister Singh emphasized that the two sides 
would increasingly focus on joint production and research and 
development.  Khodzaev reported that the atmospherics 
surrounding defense cooperation talks were positive despite 
the recent misunderstandings, with the Indians signaling they 
wished to resolve disagreements for mutual benefit.  Despite 
the emphasis on equal partnership, the defense-related 
deliverable of the visit was the announcement of a straight 
sale, a $1.2 billion contract for 80 Mi-17V-5 helicopters. 
The medium-lift utility helicopters are scheduled to arrive 
in India between 2010 and 2014, and include an offset 
obligation to the Russians of over $400 million. 
 
----- A push for regional cooperation, particularly on 
Afghanistan ----- 
 
¶6. (C) Regional architecture and greater Indo-Russian 
cooperation in existing fora were the focus of several 
paragraphs in the joint statement, reflecting what Khodzaev 
described as one of the longer discussion topics during 
meetings.  Medvedev put particular emphasis on the Shanghai 
Cooperation Organization (SCO), urging India to use its 
observer status to become more involved in regional issues. 
Specifically, Medvedev pushed India to support a Russian 
initiative for a special conference on Afghanistan to include 
SCO member states and observers in early 2009.  The 
conference would have two main areas of focus, according to 
Khodzaev.  First would be to form a "security belt" around 
Afghanistan with neighboring countries committing to fight 
against drug trafficking, criminal activities, contraband and 
other trans-border security threats.  The second "belt" would 
be cutting off financial support for terrorists and criminals 
in and surrounding Afghanistan, by having neighboring 
countries and the international community cooperate better on 
preventing financial networks from being used.  Medvedev also 
pressed for India to be represented at the next SCO summit at 
the Prime Minister level -- which it has never done before -- 
and while there was no commitment from PM Singh, there were 
"positive signals," according to Khodzaev.  (Note: 
India-Central Asia Foundation Director and Russia expert Dr. 
Nirmala Joshi told Poloffs she doesn't believe India will 
participate in the SCO at the Prime Minister level next year 
or for the foreseeable future, as long as India's observer 
status equals second class status in the group.  End note.) 
 
¶7. (C) Both sides noted their satisfaction with cooperation 
in the Russia-China-India trilateral dialogue as well as the 
BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) format.  Calling BRIC a 
"promising cooperation mechanism of the four most dynamically 
developing large economies of the world," the joint 
declaration called for the G-8 to further cooperate with 
major emerging economies to "establish an advanced mechanism 
of collective leadership in world affairs."  The declaration 
also called for strengthening the centril role of the United 
Nations in establishing a multipolar world order, while 
declaring the two countries' intentions to enhance 
collaboration in the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Asia 
Cooperation Dialogue.  India also offered its support for 
Russia to join the Asia-Europe Meeting and the East Asia 
Summit.  Khodzaev noted that one of the few areas of dispute 
in drafting the joint declaration came over the question of 
United Nations reform, particularly the issue of Security 
Council, where India pushed for an explicit vote of support 
for its permanent membership, while Russia maintained its 
view that India is a strong candidate, however the specifics 
of membership will need to be decided by the widest possible 
consensus in the General Assembly. 
 
NEW DELHI 00003114  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
----- Looking for $10 billion in annual trade ----- 
 
¶8. (C) The Russians pressed for increased economic ties, 
specifically looking for strategies and mechanisms to achieve 
the previously agreed upon goal of reaching $10 billion in 
annual bilateral trade.  A large delegation of Russian 
private businesspeople were in Delhi to complement Medvedev's 
visit, and the two sides approved a mechanism to begin 
implementing the Indo-Russian equivalent of the Indo-U.S. CEO 
Forum.  Russia has greatly diversified its trade with India 
since the fall of the Soviet Union, Khodzaev explained, and 
India has signaled a desire to expand trade in all 
directions.  India paid special attention to Russia's energy 
reserves, and Khodzaev said the talks included the 
possibility of Indian involvement in a Sakhalin III oil/gas 
project.  He noted that Russia expect the 2008 bilateral 
trade figure to be right around $7 billion. 
 
----- Solidarity following Mumbai terror attacks ----- 
 
¶9. (C) While not widely reported in the Indian media, 
Khodzaev told Poloff that the terrorist attack in Mumbai and 
the fallout for India-Pakistan relations were also a major 
topic.  Citing a common threat by terrorists with links to 
Pakistan, and noting that militants active in the Caucasus 
have ties to Al-Qaeda and other foreign groups, Medvedev 
declared Russian solidarity with India in the war on terror 
in the wake of the November 26-28 terrorist siege of Mumbai. 
Medvedev told PM Singh that Russia stands ready for 
cooperation in all areas with a view to preventing all such 
acts of terrorism, investigating the recent attack, and 
establishing a global system of protection against terrorism. 
 He also told the Prime Minister that Russia wants to support 
the part of Pakistan which supports better bilateral 
relations between India and Pakistan.  Khodzaev said that he 
was not aware of any calls made by Medvedev to Pakistani 
leadership during the visit or anytime prior to the visit. 
He added that Russia intends to talk more specifically about 
what kind of counter-terrorism assistance it could offer 
during the two countries' annual C/T working group scheduled 
to take place in late December. 
 
----- Reiterating their call for dialogue and negotiation on 
Iran ----- 
 
¶10. (C) Turning to Iran, the two sides announced through 
their joint declaration that they support Iran's right to 
develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and 
called on the Iranian nuclear issue to be resolved through 
dialogue and negotiation.  They did call on Tehran to conform 
with relevant UN Security Council resolutions to restore the 
trust of the international community. 
 
----- Agreements signal end of "Year of Russia in India" 
------ 
 
¶11. (C) In all, the two sides signed a total of ten 
agreements during the visit, ranging from the civ-nuke plans, 
space cooperation and helicopter sales described above, to 
ones describing the protocol for an intern-governmental 
commission on trade cooperation, an action plan for 
cooperation in the field of tourism, and a memorandum of 
understanding helping to establish an equivalent of the 
U.S.-India CEO Forum.  (Note: the full list of agreements and 
full text of the joint declaration can be found at the 
Ministry of External Affairs website: meaindia.nic.in.  End 
Note.)  In addition to being part of the annual, scheduled 
Indo-Russia summit meetings, this visit by Medvedev brought a 
ceremonial close to the "Year of Russia in India," and opens 
the way for the "Year of India in Russia" in 2009. 
 
----- Comment: Not much there there, but still good friends 
----- 
 
¶12. (C) Comment.  While not much resulted from the visit, its 
ceremonial and public aspects suggested continuing nostalgia 
for a time when India-Russia relations had both warmth and 
substance.   The timing of the visit certainly worked in 
Russia's favor -- Medvedev was the first foreign head of 
 
NEW DELHI 00003114  004 OF 004 
 
 
government to visit India following the Mumbai terror 
attacks, a fact that was noted by Indian media -- but Post 
suspects both sides were able to call the visit a success for 
the reason Sanjay Kapoor gave: that 
India and Russia were eager to have something concrete to 
point to which could show the friendship remains strong, 
despite appearances to the contrary.  Post expects 
India-Russia relations will remain friendly, not only because 
India's independent foreign policy (read: not too close to 
the U.S.) and geostrategic position necessitate good working 
relations with Russia, but also because India 
appreciates Russia's friendship, even if the two friends seem 
to have outgrown the relationship.  But if "The Year of 
Russia in India" could only produce a civ-nuke deal (which 
piggybacked on the U.S.-India deal and followed that of 
France-India), the sale of 80 helicopters (while an aircraft 
carrier deal continues to sour with a $2 billion cost overrun 
and lingering "minor problems" threaten to scuttle a deal to 
lease an Akula-II class nuclear submarine), and some promises 
for closer cooperation in other areas such as tourism, then 
it's an underwhelming year. 
MULFORD