Russia participated in the BRICS Summit of 2016 held in Goa. In February this year, the Kremlin handed over the BRICS presidency to India. Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the summit, along with the India-Russia Annual Summit, which also took place on the sidelines of the summit, as successful.
For Russia, the summit was successful, apart from its bilateral engagements with other BRICS members, from the perspectives, such as:
In the Goa Summit, the BRICS members reiterated their determination to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption. MoUs were signed between them for customs services and diplomatic academies as well as for creating a platform for BRICS agricultural research.
Apart from these, in the Goa Summit, Russia advocated enhanced cooperation in electronic commerce (including analysis of key barriers between the countries in this sphere, development of the best regulatory practices, etc.), in trade facilitation (with involvement of the Eurasian Economic Commission), support for small and medium-sized businesses (launching a web portal for BRICS small and medium-sized businesses) and protection of intellectual property.ii
One important similarity between the Ufa Summit and the Goa Summit was the involvement of other regional multilateral foras. At the Ufa Summit, Russia hosted an outreach meeting with participation of heads of state of the Eurasian Economic Union, the SCO, as well as the SCO observer states. Similarly, India hosted the BIMSTEC, members during the summit and actively promoted interaction between the two groupings.
On India
On the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Russia and India met for their 16th Annual Summit, a tradition started by President Putin. The meet, during the India-Russia Summit, has been hailed a success by both countries. Both sides signed 16 agreements and made 3 announcements across several fields, including defence, nuclear and space. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the agreements on manufacture of Kamov 226T helicopters; S-400 AD missiles; construction of frigates; and acquisition and building of other defence platforms are in synergy with India’s technology and security priorities. He said that these agreements would help India in achieving objectives of the ‘Make in India’ project. To iron out the challenges in the defence sector, India and Russia have agreed to work on an annual military industrial conference that would allow stakeholders on both sides to interact and push collaboration.iii
In an interview on October 13, President Putin said “India is Russia's especially privileged strategic partner. Cooperation between our countries is making good headway in all areas on the basis of strong traditions of friendship, trust and mutual respect. Russia and India are allies in ensuring strategic security and stability, and building an equitable world order. We work closely within the leading multilateral organisations, such as BRICS, the G20, and the UN.”iv The month of October marked 16 years of the signing of the key instrument for Russian-Indian relations, the Declaration of Strategic Partnership.
During the interview, Putin recognised the lacuna that Russia and India are facing in trade relations. He observed that the trade volume between the two countries in 2015 was only 7.8 percent of GDPv, which according to him was low given the strategic partnership both shared. He expressed his resolve that Russia and India would overcome this negative trend, which according to him is due to volatility on the global markets and in exchange rates.vi He said that focus should be on the defence and energy sectors, and other economic cooperation areas, such as high-technology products; engineering, chemical and mining industries; aircraft engineering; pharmaceuticals; medicine; nano- and biotechnology; and banking and finance. Focus has been put on the development of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, which has become a core area for both the countries. During the 1st India-Russia Heads of Think-Tanks’ meet at Moscow on September 22-23, 2016, experts from both sides encouraged the governments to cooperate closely in this field. According to a Russian expert, Russia is in a good position followed by India, among other BRICS countries, in the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.
On Afghanistan, Putin stated that Russia and India were both interested in deepening ‘constructive multilateral cooperation’ to help rebuild war-torn Afghanistan where decisive action was needed to defeat terrorism. He said Afghanistan remains a ‘concern’ as the security situation in the country remains tense which is a concern for Russia and India. He further said Russia is willing to develop formats of interaction, such as BRICS that would allow ‘responding swiftly to emerging security challenges, jointly seeking ways to address potential threats’. He added that the SCO had a ‘major role to play in it’ as the Eurasian political, economic and security bloc was constantly expanding its geography with India and Pakistan joining the grouping this year.vii
The Goa Summit’s meeting projected the importance of multilateralism to the international community and combating the challenges through joint efforts such as terrorism. The BRICS members affirmed their commitment to the issues in the world order such as non-interference in the internal matters of a country by any external forces etc. During the summit, the bloc’s concern about terrorism was highlighted. The Goa Declaration condemned the recent attacks “against some BRICS countries, including that in India”. The Declaration condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and ruled out any justification for such acts. The members agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating international terrorism both at the bilateral level and at international fora.viii The Goa Declaration also pays attention to regional conflicts, such as Syria where it said “relentless pursuit against terrorist groups” should continue, as well as other parts of the Middle East, Afghanistan, as well as in the African continent.ix
On China
Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Benaulim. In the meeting, the Kremlin website reported that the two leaders shared their opinions on the situation in Syria and Putin informed his Chinese counterpart on the latest developments. The two leaders reiterated the similarities in their positions on the need to fight terrorism, and emphasised the inadmissibility of any interference in Central Asia’s affairs. They also stressed the need for further cooperation in preventing international terror from penetrating Central Asia and reaching the rest of the world through it.x
Putin and Xi discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and spoke out for its denuclearisation. Both the leaders also agreed to enhance communications to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia.xi They also touched upon their similar positions on key international issues,xii such as non-interference of a unipolar power in other’s sovereignty, confirming their support to the international law and the UN, etc.
Putin, during his bilateral meeting with Xi, said Russia is dedicated to cooperation with China under multiple frameworks. He voiced support for China's goal of a successful BRICS Summit in China next year. Saying that China is an important economic partner of Russia, Putin said that Russia would like to deepen cooperation with China, including in areas of infrastructure, energy and aerospace.xiii
Russia and China are trying to enhance their relationship and contain the US influence as a unipolar hegemony, the camaraderie which was demonstrated during their joint-military drills in the South China Sea. Both countries condemned U.S. plans to deploy a U.S. missile shield in South Korea.xiv
On South Africa
Putin met the President of South Africa Jacob Zuma on the sidelines of the Goa Summit. During their bilateral meeting, the two leaders discussed trade and economic ties, cooperation in nuclear energy and investor protection. During the meeting, the parties highlighted the potential of technological cooperation, in particular, in ship-building, IT and space technology, and telemedicine. Putin hoped that Zuma would take steps towards improvement and development of the economic sector of South Africa.xv
Russian financial institutions have shown interest in helping to raise the economic and business profiles in Africa, including South Africa.xvi This cooperation, to be further strengthened, was reaffirmed during the meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the Goa Summit. Russia is focusing on Africa to expand its national interest.
On Brazil
Russia and Brazil did not meet on the sidelines of the Goa Summit. Russia has not been happy with the “abrupt change” in the Brazilian political leadership, referring to Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment.xvii This was made clear by Putin in the form of not having a bilateral meeting with the new President Micel Temer.
On BIMSTEC
Putin expressed his appreciation to PM Modi for inviting the countries of this grouping. Putin emphasised that Russia is consistent in its efforts to promote bilateral trade and investments with the Bay of Bengal countries. For example, Russia is proactively working with Bangladesh on peaceful nuclear energy power by implementing a major joint project to build the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. Russia is stepping up cooperation with Thailand on conventional energy. Russian companies are working with PTT, a Thai oil and gas company, apart from many other projects. With Myanmar, Russia has nearly completed the construction of a major iron and steel plant, which has been constructed by using unique Russian technology. Russia and Sri Lanka established an inter-governmental commission on trade, economic, research and technical cooperation, and its first meeting took place in February 2016. Russia helped Nepal through its humanitarian aid during the earthquake. Putin during the Goa Meet said BRICS and BIMSTEC should cooperate closely in fighting terrorism.xviii
For Russia, BIMSTEC plays an important part in its objective of expanding its influence through its ‘turn to East’xix policy. Though under the ‘turn to East’ policy, the ASEAN and the East Asian countries such as Taiwan, Mongolia, South and North Korean and Japan etc. seems to be in focus but Moscow is also consistently trying to strengthen its relationship with the BIMSTEC countries. For example with Bangladesh, Russia is working on nuclear energy power by implementing a major joint project to build the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant.xx Bangladesh is also a major supplier of seafood and textiles to Moscow which exports metal industrial products and heavy machinery to Bangladeshxxi; with Thailand Russia is expanding its cooperation in the natural gas and oil sector; with Myanmar, Tyazhpromexport is completing construction of a major iron and steel plant using unique Russian technology; with Sri Lanka, Moscow established an intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, research and technical cooperation, and its first meeting took place in February 2016; last year Russia helped Nepal overcome the consequences of a destructive earthquake. Putin said that Russia is keen on the mutual linkage of regional integration projects that involve BRICS and BIMSTEC countries.xxii With Bhutan, the bilateral relationship is yet to reach the proactive level. The bilateral relationship between the two countries started in 2011.
In an interview with Sputnik and the IANS news agency on October 13, Putin said that EAEU and Silk Road Economic Belt could become a basis for the creation of the Big Eurasian Partnership with participation of member states of the EAEU, the SCO and the ASEAN. He stated that the potential of the BRICS cooperation could be used to implement this initiative.xxiii Although Putin did not mention BIMSTEC in the Eurasian Partnership vision however, it would be natural, given the potential of these Bay of Bengal countries grouping, to link Russia’s vision to this group too. The meeting with the BIMSTEC leaders during the Goa Summit would have helped Putin formulate objectives to further the vision of the integration project through economic cooperation with these countries.
Conclusion
For Russia, the BRICS Goa Summit was a success. It reaffirmed its bilateral relationships with India, China and South Africa, and also sent across a strong message to Brazil by not having a meeting with the Brazilian president Big Eurasian Partnership through economic and energy cooperation. Putin, before he left for the summit, spoke about the idea of linking the Eurasian Partnership with other regional integration projects such as ASEAN, SCO, OBOR etc. that hints at the direction of Russia’s foreign policy objectives in the region.
The Goa Summit was also able to project to the West that Russia has friends in the East, which treat the country as an equal partner. Meeting with the BIMSTEC members would help Russia expand its economic, energy and defence cooperation and also its strategic objectives in the region such as balancing the US presence.
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* The Authoress is a Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi
Disclaimer: The views expressed are that of the Researcher and not of the Council.
End Notes
i“Interview to Rossiya Segodnya International News Agency and IANS News Agency”, President of Russia Official Website, October 13, 2016. http://en.special.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/53082 (Accessed on October 22, 2016).
ii“Interview to Rossiya Segodnya International News Agency and IANS News Agency”, President of Russia Official Website, October 13, 2016. http://en.special.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/53082 (Accessed on October 22, 2016).
iii“India Russia Summit: Full Statement of PM Naredra Modi”, ET, October 15, 2016. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-russia-summit-full-statement-of-pm-narendra-modi/articleshow/54866720.cms (Accessed on October 17, 2016).
vRussia's cumulative investments in India amount to about $4 billion, while Indian businesses have invested in the Russian economy twice as much – about $8 billion. Ibid. In 2015 Indian-Russian bilateral trade volume decreased by 5% and reached 6.1 billion USD compared to 6.4 billion USD in 2014. Indian exports to Russia fell to 1.6 billion USD (by 27%) while imports rose to 4.5 billion USD (by 7%). “Indian-Russian Bilateral Trade in 2015”, Russian Exports: National Information Portal, March 22, 2016. http://www.rusexporter.com/research/country/detail/4246/ (Accessed on November 3, 2016).
vi“Interview to Rossiya Segodnya International News Agency and IANS News Agency”, President of Russia Official Website, op.cit.
vii“Russia, India Share Need to Rebuild Afghanistan: Vladimir Putin”, ET, October 14, 2016. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/russia-india-share-need-to-rebuild-afghanistan-vladimir-putin/articleshow/54834159.cms (Accessed on October 17, 2016).
xii“Meeting with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping”, President of Russia Official Website, op.cit.
xiiiBaijie, “Xi, Putin optimistic for BRICS”, China Daily, op.cit.
xvii“Brazil’s President was Snubbed by Vladimir Putin at BRICS Summit”, Plus 55 , October 19, 2016. http://plus55.com/politics/2016/10/brazils-president-snubbed-vladimir-putin (Accessed on October 25, 2016).
xx“Meeting of BRICS leaders with heads of delegations of BIMSTEC member states”, President of Russia, October 16, 2016. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/53104 (Accessed on November 3, 2016).
xxiii“Putin: EEU, Silk Road Initiative May Become Basis for Big Eurasian Partnership”, Sputnik, October 13, 2016. https://sputniknews.com/politics/201610131046284392-putin-eeu-silk-road/ (Accessed on November 4, 2016).