Moscow Woos New Delhi
NOORANI, A. G.
UNWAVERING NON-ALIGNMENT Moscow Woos New Delhi by A-G- noorani New Delhi Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei N. Kosygin's visit to India last month was perfectly timed?though coincidence, and not...
...and a Soviet promise to help modernize the Sur-atgarh farm in the Indian State of Ra-jasthan...
...In reply, Desai spoke only in general terms, although his references to Vietnam's invasion of Kampuchea could not have been lost on Kosygin: "We have deplored the violation of frontiers wherever it has occurred...
...Vajpayee replied that he had merely conveyed to China's leaders India's desire for a peaceful resolution of the Sino-Soviet disputes...
...Gromyko, worried nevertheless, took advantage of the occasion to launch a bitter tirade against China in Vajpayee's presence...
...For example, when the Soviet Prime Minister came here in 1968—still enjoying a personal popularity as architect of the 1966 Indo-Pakistani peace—he tried to persuade Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty...
...The Janata Party head has long made known his belief in genuine non-alignment...
...The Defense Department's announcement of March 8—that it was, first, dispatching a naval task force to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf area...
...UNWAVERING NON-ALIGNMENT Moscow Woos New Delhi by A-G- noorani New Delhi Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei N. Kosygin's visit to India last month was perfectly timed?though coincidence, and not Kremlin foresight, was responsible...
...that would be absolutely unnatural...
...a cultural exchange program slated for 1979-80...
...Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher testified after his trip to New Delhi a few weeks back, there is "a genuine Indian concern exacerbated by past experiences" about American readiness to sell arms to Pakistan, especially now that the Shah is gone...
...Within hours of his arrival from Moscow, for instance, Vajpayee called on him to provide a detailed account of his Peking sojourn...
...Gandhi herself agreed with his position and rejected thetreaty...
...Fundamentally, then, the Janata government is as committed to non-alignment—including good relations with Moscow—as its predecessor, but without Indira Gandhi's pro-Soviet tilt...
...Desai, then Deputy Prime Minister, strongly condemned the document on the grounds that it perpetuated the division between the nuclear "haves and have-nots...
...But no matter what aid India receives from the USSR, it will not compromise its independence...
...In fact, during Kosygin's talks with Desai on March 9, 10 and 13, four agreements were signed: a long-term program of economic, scientific and technological cooperation...
...In his address to members of Parliament shortly afterward, Kosygin denounced China as "a criminal who has encroached on the life of an entire nation" and wondered "what punishment" should be meted out to it...
...Finally, the two countries differ on demilitarization of the Indian Ocean...
...Desai has made no secret of his uneasiness about the USSR's role in Afghanistan, and he declaimed in Kosygin's presence "that liberation can be achieved through nonviolent means"—a clear expression of his unhappiness with Moscow's and Havana's actions in Ethiopia and South Yemen...
...Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gro-myko was invited to visit...
...In addition, Kosygin accepted a proposal to exchange 600,000 tons of Russian petroleum for an undisclosed amount of Indian rice...
...Vajpayee, for his part, remarked that the bonds between India and the USSR were strong enough "to survive the demands of divergent systems, the fate of an individual, or the fortunes of a political party...
...This did not sway the Indian leadership, though...
...Further, India and Washington disagree on how to attain nuclear nonproliferation, with American delays in delivering enriched uranium for the Tarapur Atomic Power station (built with U.S...
...Desai sharply criticized this move, holding that it bound New Delhi too closely to Moscow...
...Kosygin specifically asked the Foreign Minister whether he had discussed Sino-Soviet relations in Peking...
...The Soviet Union sympathizes with India's efforts to insure its defense...
...In the case of defense, as U.S...
...There are, moreover, credible reports of Russian offers to supply the enriched uranium to Tarapur...
...Vajpayee followed in September 1978, to A. G. Noorani, a new contributor to these pages, is a Bombay lawyer who often writes for the India Express...
...The oil deal, which should tide India over the shortage created by an interruption of supplies from Iran, is a bonus on top of a previous promise by the Soviet Union to deliver 5.5 million tons of crude between 1977-80...
...Desai had good reason to be cautious, for no Indian government can afford to keep its Moscow relations in anything except good repair: New Delhi's defense and trade ties with the USSR are extensive...
...A month later he was telling Parliament: "We cannot allow any gaps to appear in Indo-Soviet relations...
...Second, and more important, Prime Minister Morarji R. Desai responded to Kosygin by making clear his determination to stick to an independent foreign policy and not let pressure from any side deflect him...
...aid) causing much irritation here...
...and India...
...a special cooperation pact in the health field...
...An Indo-Soviet agreement for nuclear cooperation was concluded last January...
...Thus, for the Soviet leader, anxious to enlist India in the anti-China ranks, circumstances could not have looked more promising...
...Kosygin arrived in New Delhi in the wake of China's February invasion of Vietnam—an invasion that had prompted Indian Foreign Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to cut short his Peking tour and to denounce China as "an aggressor" in Parliament...
...Hence, during Kosygin's visit Desai walked a delicate tightrope between encouraging and rebuffing the Kremlin's Number Two man...
...Yet Kosygin was unable to capitalize on the fortunate timing...
...As Kosygin learned during his visit, a new style of Indian diplomacy has evolved—one that is less moralizing and more hard-headed than in the past...
...Vajpayee expressed India's concern in Parliament on March 12: "Committed as we are to keep the Indian Ocean from the naval presence and rivalry of great powers, we are distressed at this announcement...
...Kosygin is well aware of these differences between the U.S...
...Indeed, there are two reasons to believe that he rather overdid his anti-Peking lobbying...
...As a result, the possibility now exists that relations will in time be wholly normalized...
...In March 1977, when Desai and his Janata coalition came to power, however, no time was lost in reassuring the Soviets of India's continuing friendship...
...No breakthrough was attempted but an earnest dialogue was resumed after nearly two decades of hostility...
...Later that year, Desai went to Moscow for discussions with Soviet Party Secretary Leonid 1. Brezhnev...
...For one thing, Vajpayee's "exploratory" mission was a success, given its limited goals...
...assure the Soviets that his upcoming historic visit to Peking did not signify any change in India's relations with the USSR...
...and second, was considering the creation of a permanent Indian Ocean fleet—has not been well received here...
...He pointedly remarked that "ominous clouds have been hanging over India's borders more than once...
...He felt sure that "we can look with confidence into the future of our relationship...
...Bui in 1971, she did accept a 20-year Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet-Union—whose operative clause called for consultations between signatories in case of an attack or threatened attack on either country...
...At the same time, Desai was careful to assure his guest that "normalization of relations with any country will not in any way impinge upon the strength and quality of our relationships, particularly with good friends such as the Soviet Union...
Vol. 62 • April 1979 • No. 8
