Gorbachev and Gandhi’s Delhi Declaration backed bilateral ties
MODI LEADS TRIBUTES TO FORMER USSR PRESIDENT ‘WHO VALUED STRONG RELATIONS WITH INDIA’
MIKHAIL S GORBACHEV, who died last Tuesday (30) aged 91, played a pivotal role in laying a strong foundation for deeper bilateral relations – particularly in defence and economic engagement – between Moscow and New Delhi.
He visited India in 1986 as well as in 1988. His first visit was seen as significant as the US was getting increasingly close to Pakistan at the time.
Accompanied by more than a 100strong delegation, Gorbachev held talks with the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, vowing to expand bilateral cooperation and reaffirming their commitment to nuclear disarmament.
It was Gorbachev’s first trip to any Asian country after he took charge of the Soviet Union.
The ‘Delhi Declaration’, following the talks, included achieving long-term global peace and also referred to India and the Soviet Union’s commitment for a nuclear weapon-free and non-violent world.
“When friends come calling, our hearts light up. We are delighted to have you amid us,” Gandhi said at a joint press conference with Gorbachev.
“We will not take any step in our foreign policy that could damage India’s interests,” Gorbachev added at the media briefing in Delhi.
Gorbachev and his wife Raisa were greeted by thousands of people when they arrived in New Delhi, reflecting the growing warmth in the ties between the two countries. Posters of him and Gandhi also adorned the streets of Delhi during the Soviet leader’s visit.
Both leaders developed a friendship and camaraderie which began when Gandhi travelled to Moscow in 1985.
During Gorbachev’s time as the Soviet leader, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) supplied various key military platforms to India, including T-72 tanks. India also began to lease nuclear submarines from the USSR under Gorbachev, reports said.
Gorbachev returned to India for a second time in 1988, when he and Gandhi reviewed the implementation of the Delhi Declaration and vowed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in defence, space and infrastructure.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the Soviet leader last week, describing Gorbachev as “one of the leading statesmen of the 20th century who left an indelible mark on the course of history”.
“We recall and value his contribution to strengthening of relations with India,” Modi said on Twitter.
Congress leader and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor said Gorbachev would be remembered by many as a pragmatic leader who “transformed the Soviet Union and led it to democracy, but by others as the man who caused its collapse” with his policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness).
“I had the privilege of meeting Mikhail Gorbachev twice, both times in Italy at small conferences,” he said in a post on Twitter.
“He was pleasant, charming and affable, and had no airs. My last conversation with him was in Rimini [in Italy], where I spoke about India at the Pio Manzu conference he chaired in October 2009. RIP,” Tharoor added.