----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 8:48 AM Subject: [STOPNATO] Russia To Strenthen Ties With India, China, Other Asian Nations STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM Times of India July 13, 2000 "Pakistan was given much more importance than India in policies pursued by Kozyrev [Yeltsin's foreign minister], who was implementing essentially an American agenda in Russian foriegn policy." Russia to strengthen traditional ties with India MOSCOW: Russia's new foreign policy document has said that development of ties with leading Asian countries like India and China is one of the priority areas. "Development of friendly relations with leading Asian countries, first of all with China and India, is one of the most important directions of Russian foreign policy," the document said setting out the new agenda enunciated by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. "Russia intends to deepen the traditional partnership with India, including in international affairs," it said. Russia, worried by the Indo-Pak conflict, is keen to "facilitate resolving of the remaining problems in South Asia and strengthen stability in the region," the document said. The document also draws attention to the nuclear situation in South Asia and Russian position on India and Pakistan not signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and not joining the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). "Russia considers signing of CTBT and joining of NPT by India and Pakistan as an important factor for ensuring stability in the Asia-Pacific region," the document said. It added that Russia would support creation of a nuclear weapons-free zones in Asia. "The document, reflecting the current trends in Russian foreign policy, is qualitatively different from the earlier one adopted in 1993," said Evgeny Pashentsev, director of the Nika Soyuz, a private think tank. "India did not receive proper attention in the previous foreign policy document, prepared by (former foreign minister) Andrei Kozyrev and approved by (former president) Boris Yeltsin in 1993," Pashentsev said. "Pakistan was given much more importance than India in policies pursued by Kozyrev, who was implementing essentially an American agenda in Russian foreign policy," he added. Kozyrev's Euro-centric foreign policy, adopted in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's disintegration, did not leave much room for Asia or for Soviet Union's trusted friends like India, leading to cooling of relations between Moscow and New Delhi for some time. Asia, particularly countries like India and China, is high in the foreign policy agenda of President Alexander Putin, who has said that "he is the greatest friend of India". (India Abroad News Service) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
