When the interests of old friends diverge

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarkably short visit to Russia reiterates British statesman Viscount Palmerston's dictum that a nation has no permanent friends or foes when formulating foreign policy, only permanent interests.

India's abiding interest remains eradicating poverty and ensuring security for one-third of humanity. However, Russia's once-pivotal role in realising these ambitions has diminished with the re-emergence of China and improved relations with the US.

New Delhi's search for greenhouse-gas-free power in a bid to usher millions living in medieval conditions into the modern world exemplifies this. Defying American opposition, Russia sold reactors to India in 1998. Seven years later, India chose safety and reliability over old ties and initiated negotiations for a nuclear deal with the US. Inevitably, a contraction in Indo-Russian relations followed.

Ties are now dominated by secondary concerns - from building military transport to mounting a joint lunar mission - peripheral to India's main policy thrust.

Eradicating poverty is contingent on trade and investment. India needs US$450 billion to renew its infrastructure. This has prompted Dr Singh to set up a working group to increase Indo-Russian trade, which has shrunk to only US$4 billion. In contrast, Russia's trade with China has multiplied in recent years, to US$35 billion.

Geography also limits Indo-Russian trade, which has to be conducted on the high seas or across territory that is both politically and physically inhospitable. Nor are the two economies complementary.

India remains one of the largest buyers of Russian weapons, but this is a cold-war legacy. New Delhi's aspirations for a more meaningful security detente explain diplomatic and political efforts for a rapprochement with Beijing.