A significant summit

US President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Russia and his summit meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev had been a low-key affair. Within the host nation, it did not set the State-controlled media on fire, while at the international level it was upstaged by either riots in West China or the tribute to Michael Jackson! The fact that an American President was visiting Russia after so many years should have been regarded as an epoch making event, at least by the media. That it was not, though surprising, is not inexplicable. Barack Obama may have merited pop-star type adulation in Europe and elsewhere, but he has not yet endeared himself to the Russian people. The end of the Cold War and the bonhomie signalled by the bear hug between Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin had engendered hopes for closer ties between the two super-powers. But such hopes did not last long and the Bush era witnessed the gradual drifting apart of US and Russia. Vladimir Putin’s effort to instil self-esteem into a drastically truncated nation involved playing down the global predominance of the US. It had also stoked traditional suspicions regarding American intentions, with conceived programmes like the missile defence system across Europe not helping to allay them. Little wonder than that Medvedev, just prior to Obama’s visit, candidly acknowledged that US-Russia relations had touched an unprecedented low.

Thus the US President’s visit may have been low-key, yet extremely significant. In the background of global terrorism, economic recession and threats to ecology, never was there a more significant moment in history when the US and Russia need to work together as partners rather than rivals. The maturity that marked the utterances of the two leaders and the pacts that have been inked are welcome signs that this realisation has crept into the relationship. For instance, Russia has reciprocated towards the long time disarmament goals set by Obama. In view of the imminent expiration of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), Obama and Medvedev had earlier agreed that American and Russian negotiators would begin work on a new agreement on reducing nuclear weapons to replace START. The pact signed by the two leaders at the summit to scale down nuclear warheads to a 1500-1675 range is testimony to their commitment towards non-proliferation and eventual disarmament. Similarly, Russia has reacted favourably towards American request for assistance in its war against terror, particularly in allowing the transit of American supplies to troops in Afghanistan through Russian territory. The Russian economy has taken a buffeting during the current recessionary phase — economic co-operation with US will be of immense help to Russia. Strengthening of bilateral ties between these two superpowers will go a long way to make this world a safer place, thus the latest initiative is timely and welcome. SOURCE: ASSAM TRIBUNE