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Russia's Asian policy gains
momentum
By Sergei Blagov
MOSCOW - With the Russian leadership
intensifying its diplomatic offensive following the
deadly hostage crisis in Moscow, there are indications
that it is now backing up this initiative with stronger
arguments.
For instance, Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov stated on the record that the military may in the
future use high-precision weapons to carry out strikes
abroad, hitting terrorist bases and suspected sponsors
of terrorism. In an interview published in Izvestia on
November 5, Ivanov said that possible use of the new
weaponry may become a part of the reviewed plans of the
armed forces in response to President Vladimir Putin's
order of October 28.
And Putin has ordered
Ivanov to review the national security doctrine so as to
deploy the armed forces in anti-terrorist operations.
Speaking on October 28 in the immediate aftermath of the
hostage-taking, Putin hinted that Russia may even use
weapons of mass destruction in response to acts of
massive terrorism, even if the terrorists and their
alleged sponsors were located outside Russia.
In
the past, Russia has deployed its air force to strike
suspected bases of Chechen rebels in Georgia's Pankisi
Gorge, but it has officially always denied involvement.
In 1999 and 2000, Russia reportedly supported the
friendly Kyrgyz regime by providing jet-fighters to bomb
Taliban-backed Muslim militants during their summer
incursions into mountainous Kyrgyzstan.
Moscow's
new pro-active diplomatic approach, designed to brand
Chechen separatists as terrorists, echoes in regions
quite remote from Chechnya, such as Central and Eastern
Asia. Notably, the Kremlin convened a meeting of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a
grouping with extensive Central Asian interests, in
Moscow to highlight its anti-terror agenda. The CSTO
member states should coordinate their anti-terrorist
efforts, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the foreign
ministers in Moscow last week.
The six
post-Soviet nations making up the CSTO of the
Commonwealth of Independent States, previously known
under its Russian acronym DKB, held a summit meeting in
the Russian capital last May. The leaders of Russia,
Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
at that time declined to accept Moscow's idea to set up
a joint military command under Russian control.
In recent days, Moscow has repeatedly
highlighted a need to increase ties between post-Soviet
groupings with Central Asian interests and the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO), which includes
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as
well as China and Russia. The CSTO needed to coordinate
anti-terrorist activities with the SCO, Ivanov told the
meeting of the CSTO ministers in Moscow.
Furthermore, Moscow is using the rationale of
the war on Chechen terrorism to improve security
measures elsewhere, including in the Russian far east.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has announced in
Khabarovsk that major naval exercises of Russia's
Pacific Fleet were to be held in 2003 to improve
regional security, according to the RIA news agency.
Then, Ivanov reportedly hailed the Pacific Fleet's
efforts to sustain its might. "Within the past 10 months
the fleet has procured 10 new naval vessels," he said.
The Pacific Fleet is Russia's second strongest
naval force, to which approximately one third of the
country's all-nuclear powered vessels are assigned.
Although there were less than 40 submarines in operation
in 2001, and the fleet has been underfunded, Moscow is
still keen to sustain the Pacific Fleet as a symbol of
Russian clout in northeastern Asia.
On the other
hand, Moscow's repeated referrals to security
cooperation with the SCO, in other words with China,
arguably indicate that the Kremlin wants to secure
Beijing's backing on issues such as Chechnya. Moreover,
it is understood that in a quid pro quo, Moscow could be
willing to continue labeling the Eastern Turkestan
Islamic Movement a "terrorist organization".
Incidentally, the Russian official news agency,
RIA, commenting on the upcoming retirement of China's
Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin, 76, and other
"Russian-speaking" leaders, described the generation
change as "an end of the special relations era between
Moscow and Beijing". Now a "truly businesslike approach"
is needed to cement bilateral confidence and friendly
relations", the agency said.
Presumably as a
part of this pragmatic approach, Russia has sent a
number of jet-fighters to "Airshow China-2002" in
Zhuhai, Guangdong province, including the Su-35UB, the
training Su-49, aircraft carrier-based Su-33s and bomber
Su-32s, as well as Su-27SKs and Su-30MKs, which are
already in possession of the Chinese Air Force. The
Russia presence at the airshow was supposed to cater to
"the demand of the Asian continent", RIA quoted a
spokesman of Rosoboronexport, Russia's arms export
monopoly, as saying.
Apart from its CSTO allies,
Moscow has been keen to press its anti-terror agenda
throughout the former Soviet territory. The common fight
against terrorism and military cooperation should be
given a priority in relations between the CIS states,
Igor Ivanov said following a meeting of Russia's
Security Council on October 31. Ivanov also said that
the CIS and the SCO anti-terrorist centers, both based
in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as well as the CSTO rapid
reaction forces "should start concrete meaningful work".
Kazakhstan, a pro-active advocate of post-Soviet
integration, was fast to respond. Last week, Kazakh
Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev announced in Almaty
that the hostage crisis in Moscow had prompted the
Kazakh authorities to review the country's national
security doctrine, namely to improve coordination
between military and civilian institutions in the combat
against terrorism.
And the head of the
anti-terrorism department of Kazakhstan's National
Security Committee, Vladimir Zhumakanov, announced that
Uzbek nationals suspected of ties with the outlawed
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan had recently been
detained in Kazakhstan. Two of them, brothers Alikhon
and Obitkhon Mallayev from the Namangan region, were
extradited to Uzbekistan.
Moscow has also been
trying to win the support of its former Soviet allies on
other international issues, notably Iraq. The meeting of
the CSTO foreign ministers in Moscow last Tuesday
pledged to work out a joint approach to Iraq. According
to Igor Ivanov, the CSTO states "are not indifferent
towards the developments in the immediate proximity to
our borders". Russia is against the use of force to
solve the Iraqi issue, Ivanov was quoted as saying by
RIA. The SCTO's Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, were not asked to provide
their military bases to support would-be military action
against Iraq, Ivanov reportedly stated.
Therefore, in recent days Russia seems to have
made some progress in relations with a number of
nations, including those in Central Asia. In remains to
be seen whether Moscow will continue using its
anti-terrorist drive as a pretext for pro-active
diplomacy in Central and Eastern Asia.
(©2002
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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