Jeremy Page in Delhi
India, China and Russia account for 40 per cent of the world’s population, a fifth of its economy and more than half of its nuclear warheads. Now they appear to be forming a partnership to challenge the US-dominated world order that has prevailed since the end of the Cold War. Foreign ministers from the three emerging giants met in Delhi yesterday to discuss ways to build a more democratic “multipolar world”. It was the second such meeting in the past two years and came after an unprecedented meeting between their respective leaders, Manmohan Singh, Hu Jintao and Vladimir Putin, during the G8 summit in St Petersburg in July. It also came only four days after Mr Putin stunned Western officials by railing against American foreign policy at a security conference in Munich. Background
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The foreign ministers, Pranab Mukherjee, Li Zhao Xing and Sergei Lavrov, emphasised that theirs was not an alliance against the United States. It was, “on the contrary, intended to promote international harmony and understanding”, a joint communiqué stated. Their formal agenda covered issues ranging from ...   more »

AMMAN — Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the last leg of a Middle East tour of three US allies, was to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbs yesterday in a clear show of Russia’s regional ambitions. Earlier, in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Putin suggested Russian foreign policy offered an alternative to US “unilateralism” in the search for a solution to Middle East problems.He also called for co-operation among the world’s key energy exporters, although he has denied plans to forge an outright gas cartel.Putin said on Monday that Moscow would consider helping Saudi Arabia with a possible atomic energy programme and that he hoped to build stronger ties with Muslim countries.“Russia is willing to look into cooperation opportunities in the area of atomic energy,” Putin told Saudi businessmen.Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said in December they had ordered a study on a possible joint civil atomic programme.The announcement by the GCC, a loose economic and political alliance, raised concern of a regional arms race, with analysts saying the bloc wanted to match Iran’s nuclear programme. Russia has helped Iran set up a nuclear power ...   more »