NEW DELHI: The leader of Russia’s main opposition group in Parliament, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, said that Russia would offer military help to India against Pakistan if New Delhi worked out a broad-based agreement with Moscow on such a cooperation. Saying that his organization would establish party-to-party links with the BJP he sought the services of the Chief Election Commissioner, T.N. Seshan, to ensure free and fair elections in Russia next year.
At a crowded press conference, at the end of his three-day visit to India, Zhirinovsky called for the resignation of the Russian Foreign Minister, Andrei Kozyrev, for failing to visit India even once since assuming office.
He demanded the immediate recall of the Russian ambassador in Dhaka for his failure to defend Zhirinovsky’s statement in New Delhi that Bangladesh had no business to remain as an independent country “The ambassador’s reaction shows that our foreign ministry has people who are anti-Russian.”
Reiterating his support for India against Pakistan, he ruled out the possibility of any conflict between the two countries. “If the Pakistanis knew about Russian support for India, they I would not even think of starting a conflict with India.”Zhirinovsky said Indian authorities had not contradicted or condemned any of his formulations and statements during his meetings here last week.
Zhirinovsky rejected allegations made in private by several visiting Russian ministers and in public by the Speaker of Russia’s Lower House of Parliament, Ivan P. Rybkin, that the Indian Government was discriminate sky
ing against Russian business interests.
“Any difficulties in Indo-Russian economic relations are not due to dis criminate against Russia, but the result of wrong policies pursued in Moscow. Had anyone other than Andrei Kozyrev been foreign
Minister, he would have visited India at least five times by now.”Zhirinovsky said, demanding Kozyrev’s resignation.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 17, 1995
