Dear
Readers,
The recent agreements signed between India
and Russia in Moscow could be important for your exams. In this article, we
will quickly cover these agreements.
In the last week of December, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow and
inked a number of crucial pacts (16 MOUs in all). Russia also showed its strong
support for India’s UN Security Council membership. The MoUs signed between
India and Russia are as follows:
Memoranda
of Understanding
1. Protocol amending the agreement between India and Russia on simplification of
requirements for mutual travels of certain categories of citizens of the two
nations.
2. Protocol amending agreement between India and Russia on mutual travel
jurisdiction for holders of Diplomatic and Official Passport of 3 December
2004.
3. Agreement on Cooperation in the domain of Helicopter Engineering.
4. Plan for Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Federal Customs Service of
the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of
Finance, India for tackling Customs violations in 2015-2017.
5. Programme of Action between the Department of Atomic Energy of India and the Russian
Srate Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” for localisation of manufacturing in
India for Russian-designed nuclear reactor units.
6. MoU between the Indian Ministry of Railways and the Joint Stock firm “Russian
Railways” on technical cooperation in the railway sector.
7. MoU on constructing solar energy plants in India, signed between Solar
Energy Corporation of India and Russian Energy Agency.
8. MoU for cooperation between Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), India
and CNIITMASH for developing Centre of Excellence for heavy engineering design at
HEC.
9. MoU for cooperation between HEC and CNIITMASH for upgradation and
modernisation of manufacturing facilities at HEC.
10. MoU on cooperation in the field of Broadcasting between Prasar Bharti
and Digital Television Russia.
11. Tripartite MoU between Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) and Lomonosov Moscow State University
(MSU).
12. Tripartite MoU between C-DAC, Open Joint-Stock Company “GLONASS” and GLONASS Union.
13. MoU between the Tata Power Company Limited and Ministry for Development
of the Russian Far East, in the field of investment cooperation.
14. MoU for cooperation in geological survey, exploration and production of
hydrocarbons onshore and on the continental area of the Russian Federation.
15. Confirmation of successful conclusion of the first stage
pre-completion activities with respect to creating a Joint Venture in JSC VankorNeft.
16. MoU between Rosneft oil company, Oil India Limited and Indian Oil
Corporation Limited, for cooperation in geological survey, exploration and
production of hydrocarbons onshore the Russian Federation.
Additional
Highlights
·
The two sides emphasized their
commitment to achieve the target set at the last Annual Summit, to boost
bilateral trade and investment, and underlined the need for continued
facilitation by both governments. This will be based on regular consultations
within the body of institutional mechanisms and faster implementation of
decisions and liberalisation of relevant rules and regulations.
·
Both sides reiterated their
evaluation that the Make in India programme facilitates a new and better system
for engagement by Russian corporate units in the fast evolving Indian economy. They
also highlighted the role of investment funds to facilitate high-technology
investments in both countries.
·
The leaders welcomed the
inaugural meeting of the Joint Study Group for examining the possibility of
hydrocarbon pipeline system connecting India and Russia, held in Moscow on 6
November 2015. This was a part of the Programme on Enhanced Cooperation in the
Oil and Gas domain, signed in December 2014.
·
The sides welcomed the signing
of the Agreement between Rosneft and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) for obtaining 15
per cent stakes by OVL in Rosneft’s Vanorneft Oil fields and talks for further
stakes in the future. They also appreciated the offer made by Rosneft of
scholarships to Indian students aspiring to pursue education in the field of
Oil and Petroleum in Russia.
·
Considering Russia’s status as
a member of the Arctic Council (AC) and India’s observer status in the same
since 2013, the leaders stressed the significance of joint activities in the
framework of the AC. The potential for development of joint scientific research
in the Arctic region, especially the Russian Scientific Center on Spitsbergen
was also acknowledged.
·
The sides welcomed the decision
to set up a joint working group on education and observed the vast potential
for expanding student exchanges, cooperation in vocational training of engineers,
teachers and other specialists. Indian leaders underlined the importance of the
Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN) in this context and encouraged
the faculty from various Russian universities to avail the opportunities
available.
·
Both countries expressed
satisfaction at joint Russian-Indian naval activities in December 2015 in the
Bay of Bengal, as well as INDRA-2015 joint exercises involving ground forces,
conducted in November 2015 in Rajasthan (India). They also welcomed the visit
of the Chief of the Army Staff of India to Russia in September 2015, during
which fruitful discussions were held to expand training and institutionalized
interactions between the Armed Forces of both countries.
·
They agreed to establish
stronger links between their anti-narcotics agencies and to work for finalising
a Joint Action Plan between the Federal Service for Narcotics Control of Russia
and Narcotics Control Bureau of India.
·
The two countries reaffirmed their
mutual support on disaster risk reduction, rescue and humanitarian relief, as shown
in their cooperation in evacuating their citizens during the Yemen crisis in
April 2015. They also agreed to finalise a Joint Action Plan between the
Ministry of Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination
of Consequences of Natural Disasters and the Ministry of Home Affairs of India so
as to guide cooperation in this context.
These are the major points to be remembered
in the India-Russia bilateral relationship. If you can understand these well, you
can easily answer questions pertaining to it.
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