You mentioned counterterrorism in the context of the dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Did the PM also mention the issue of China's support to Pakistan in the UN over the release of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi? Secondly, can you finally confirm that the PM is going to have a bilateral meeting with Nawaz Sharif on Friday?
Foreign Secretary: The answer to the first question is, yes the issue did come up and the Prime Minister did raise our concerns, and it was discussed in some detail. We expect those discussions to continue between the two governments. And as for any bilateral meetings that the Prime Minister will have in Ufa, we will confirm those when we are in a position to do so.
You said that India is the second largest stakeholder in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It is at a time when the New Development Bank (NDB) is also being established. Is there a need for two separate banks which have convergent issues?
FS: I think if you look at the history of the two institutions, you will in a sense figure out the answer. I think the NDB arises from the discussions that the BRICS had, and was something that was arrived at through a consensus. The AIIB has a different history. But today, the development requirements of the world are very substantial, and there is no particular logic that all development needs have to be channelled through a particular institution. In fact, there are other institutions in play as well. So, I think this is just a large enough space for multiple institutions to operate.
And where India is concerned, we are very open minded about it. Our interest is in advancing development across the world, particularly of course in our immediate regions, and we find merit in participating in both.
In the discussions with Russia, was there any progress on initialling the contracts for the third and fourth reactors at Kudankulam?
FS: There was a fairly detailed discussion about our civil nuclear cooperation including the Kudankulam units. Maybe the Ambassador would like to come in on this.
Indian Ambassador to Russia (P S Raghavan): The Kudankulam 3 and 4 contracts have already been signed. There is a general framework agreement which has been signed. The long cycle supply of equipment, which is a contract, has been signed. So, it is in the process of implementation. That is what Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin noted with satisfaction as progress in the nuclear energy cooperation.
On civil nuclear cooperation with Russia, one of the concerns Russia has had over the past few years is that the site we picked earlier in Haripur has not been working out and they want it replaced. In the last summit we had mentioned it would be expeditiously done. Has there been any progress?
FS: I think that was actively reviewed and positively considered. The meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi was very positive, in the sense that a lot of things have moved since December. And the reason why that meeting went on for 90 minutes was because they went down a long list of issues in fairly great detail. The overall sense was whether it was civil nuclear, whether it was space, whether it was trade, whether it was defence, pretty much in every sphere, the two sides have been working very hard. Obviously, between now and the end of the year whenever we have our annual summit, we would progress to a point where we would like to go public. So, the short answer is yes, progress has been made but you will have to wait a bit.
Since the NDB has been established and you mentioned AIIB as well, are we looking at a situation where the latter would take up specific projects as far as India is concerned, because you mentioned that we hold the second largest stake in AIIB?
FS: I am sorry, I did not get the purport of the question there.
Investments in the country in the context of our flagship programmes like Make in India ...
FS: Investments from AIIB into India?
Yes.
FS: I suspect it's too early to look at that. I, frankly, am not confident of commenting on which direction the AIIB would go in, since it is still too early. But I can tell you this, as far as China is concerned, there are two industrial parks (one in Maharashtra and one in Gujarat) for which we are in discussion with the Chinese. When Chinese Premier Xi and Prime Minister Modi met, they noted that there had been further movement on the two parks since the May visit. Things are progressing and the outlook for investments is positive.
You spoke about India taking up the issue of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi with the Chinese leadership. Could you share more details on whether they accepted India's stance on it? Also, was there anything about India's concerns on the sale of Russian weaponry to Pakistan?
FS: I don't know how much more I could give you on the first issue. I can tell you that the issue was discussed in some detail; the PM made our concerns known and I am sure that the Chinese side was impressed by the clarity and directness with which he communicated it. And as I conveyed to you, it was felt that we should continue talking about it.
On the other issue, I do not believe it came up because essentially in the meeting today, there has really been so much to show in terms of where we have gone bilaterally in our relationship with Russia, that frankly most of it was on the bilateral ties. I think that is really where we left off.
Edited excerpts of the press conference addressed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar at Ufa (Russia), where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a meeting of the BRICS nations on 8 July 2015
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