Russia And India For Preserving ABM Treaty

The Russian-Indian summit-level negotiations in Moscow were crowned by a series of signed documents such as a Russian-Indian joint declaration and a joint statement on strategic matters. The declaration touches upon all aspects of cooperation between the two countries. It says, among other things, that terrorism poses a challenge to the entire mankind and has to be combated by a joint effort. Russia and India have also expressed satisfaction with the reached level of cooperation between them, their opposition to international terrorism and other kinds of transnational organised crime, including the illegal drug trafficking. Russia and India have reached an agreement as regards the expediency of expanding the format of the United Nations' Security Council so as to make it more representative and efficient, says the declaration. In this connection, Russia has declared its support for India as a candidate for permanent membership in the expanded UN Security Council. Russia and India have reaffirmed their resolve to promote formation of a fair multipolar world order, based on the principles of supremacy of law, equality, territorial integrity and nonintervention in the internal affairs, in the interest of eliminating threats to strategic stability and international security, says the declaration. The joint Russian-Indian statement on strategic matters speaks, among other things, of the need to preserve the existing agreements in the field of arms control and disarmament, including the USSR-U.S. treaty on the limitation of antimissile defense systems. The statement also says that India welcomes the readiness of Russia and the United States to continue the reduction of their strategic offensive arms. For its part, Russia welcomes the proclamation by the Republic of India of a voluntary moratorium on the holding of nuclear tests and positively estimates the efforts made by the Indian government towards forming a comprehensive national consensus on the problem of a treaty on comprehensive prohibition of nuclear tests.