By IRNA,
New Delhi : Describing warm Indo-Russian ties as ‘special’ and not merely a ‘figure of speech’, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday assured India all help in its fight against terror.
‘India and Russia have special relations and it is not (mere) figure of speech. The decision of using weapons is the prerogative of India, but we are ready to help and assist as we are already doing,’ Medvedev said in an interactive session with students of IIT-Bombay when asked about the collaboration between the two countries in combating terror.
‘I’m not disclosing a state secret but when I visited India four days after the Mumbai terror attacks I told them (the government) a simple thing: If India needs our assistance in terms of anti-terrorism, we are ready to provide weapons, modern technology,’ he said, the PTI reported.
When asked a hypothetical question as to how Russia would react if a 26/11 type attack sponsored by Pakistan were to happen there, Medvedev refused to link any country with terror but said, ‘Russia would retaliate. If any foreign state attacks Russia, we will defend. We will save lives by all possible means.’
He, however, said the possibility of compromise should also be explored. ‘One should not resort to use of force until all peaceful ways are exhausted.’
When asked if Russia would still be a superpower if the USSR had not disintegrated, Medvedev said, ‘USSR had an illusion that we are so strong and independent that we do not need anybody. But internally we got weakened. I will say no one should speak these words that we are a superpower.’
Maintaining that USSR was out of touch with the rest of the world, Medvedev recalled the US President Barack Obama’s words ‘the world is a multi-polar society’.
On the much-awaited delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India, he said it was due to commercial and technical reasons. ‘Admiral Gorshkov would be soon a part of the Indian fleet with a different name.’
Medvedev, who is keen on greater engagement with India in the field of science, was then taken around the Centre for Research in Nanotechnology & Science on the campus where he spent 25 minutes looking at the facilities.
‘We showed him the technology we have developed on explosive detection and low-cost cardiac diagnostic systems,’ said professor V. Ramgopal Rao, head of the centre.
The President spoke of ‘Russ Nano’, an initiative by the Russian government which supports entrepreneurs working in the field of nanotechnology.
‘He said that IIT-Bombay and Russ Nano should collaborate in developing low-cost technologies in the areas of health-care and security,’ said Rao.
Established in 1958, IIT-B received major support from the erstwhile USSR in terms of funding, equipment and expertise.