When Boris Yeltsin ruled Russia not so long ago, bets were placed in Moscow on how many days he would attend office in a week and on whether he would come in sober. In contrast, his handpicked successor Vladimir Putin, a martial arts specialist and a former kgb spy, is discipline personified. A teetotaller, Putin believes in keeping regular hours, stays focused and businesslike in his dealings and exudes an air of confidence.

Last week, when the Russian President flew into Delhi for a summit meeting with Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, his efficient and clinical approach saw a record amount of official business being transacted in the 15 working hours that he had. Putin impressed his Indian hosts with what a senior Ministry of External Affairs official described as "his relaxed, soft-spoken, non-evasive and forthright style". The only amusing moment came when Putin asked for tea during his one-to-one meeting with Vajpayee. His security staff used vodka as a disinfectant to rinse his mug. The President just shrugged his shoulder in resignation.

Guarding Interests: Russian President Putin is welcomed in Delhi by a ceremonial guard of honour; (below) with Vajpayee

REALITY CHECK

Upside Putin's strong words against Pakistan's machinations, joint working group on terrorism, new declaration to boost economic relations and convergence on Iraq.

Downside Stagnation on trade, bottlenecks in defence deals, corrupt bureaucracy, strategic triangle with China seen as unrealistic, and racial violence against Indians in Moscow.

Surprising as it may seem, one of the biggest achievement of the visit is, as Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal points out, that "the two countries found time to maintain the regularity of such a high-level contact". It is the third summit between Vajpayee and Putin in a little more than two years. This is in sharp contrast to the erratic ties India had with Russia when Yeltsin was at the helm. Given that the Russian system of governance continues to be formal and hierarchical with most decisions left to the President, it was important for India to have Putin constantly oversee the bilateral relations himself. As he told Vajpayee, "We made a lot of progress in our relationship in these two years. And we should not stop. We must keep building on it and make it move even faster."

Putin, 50, was noticeably deferential to Vajpayee whom he regards as an elder statesman. Despite the 28-year age difference between the two leaders, they enjoy a comfortable relationship. Vajpayee demonstrated that friendship by calling Putin for a private dinner that included his favourite kebabs on the day he arrived. The next day when the two leaders met they carried on their one-to-one discussions for more than the proposed 45 minutes. An animated Putin discussed an entire gamut of issues with Vajpayee without hedging on any of his statements. The two leaders waived aside the delegation-level meeting that was to follow and headed straight for the podium to sign the declaration on "Further Consolidation of the Strategic Relationship" between India and Russia. The fitter Putin bobbed up and down on his chair thrice as he waited for Vajpayee to be seated.

Perhaps the key outcome of this summit was that the two sides finally got down to doing something to improve the abysmally low trade between the two countries that has remained stagnant at $1.4 billion (Rs 6,750 crore) for the past three years. External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha candidly admits that "our current trade and economic relations with Russia completely fail to reflect the potential that exists and it is a challenge we have to face squarely". For a start, Russia has agreed to use the $3 billion (Rs 14,475 crore) that India owes it as debts from the past to fund joint ventures in the fields of telecommunication, aluminium and information technology.

Yet the problem continues to be Indian business' obvious lack of interest in investing in Russia. During his luncheon meeting with the honchos of cii and ficci, Putin pointed out that the Russian economy had been growing at a healthy 4 per cent and in some sectors like energy and metallurgy by as much as 8 per cent. The Russian President urged Indian industry to make use of the "new opportunities" being thrown up. Sinha made a more direct appeal, saying, "Please go to Russia, there is a huge market waiting." But Indian businessmen continue to be wary of the Russian mafia that has an iron grip on many of the key industrial sectors apart from corruption in the bureaucracy which rivals that in India. The spate of racial targeting by fanatics that has seen even Indians being murdered in Moscow subways recently hasn't helped matters.

As significant as the economic component was Putin's open denunciation of Pakistan for abetting terror in the region and coming out in clear support of India's stand against its neighbour. After the recent hostage crisis in Moscow, Putin has been especially harsh on Pakistan. With the continuing unrest in Chechnya and also the fact that Russia has a 19 per cent Muslim population-a much higher proportion than India-Putin's concerns are understandable.

Although Russia does not have the clout that the US wields over the region, it is a big help for India to have a major power coming out openly in its support. Especially with America repeatedly lauding Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for his "courage". There are some sections though that believe Russia is working in tandem with the US to bring pressure on Pakistan to rein in its jehadis. With India and Russia setting up a high-level joint working group on terrorism there would be greater co-ordination between the two countries on this front. On Iraq, there was a convergence of interest with both sides reiterating that they were against any unilateral military action by the US and to give Saddam Hussein a fair chance to come clean-something that had US diplomats gnashing their teeth.

What has emerged from the frequent interaction between the two countries is the great degree of pragmatism. Russia shows no jealousy that India now shares a deep relationship with the US, something that would have been sacrilegious in the past. Also despite all the talk of forming a strategic triangle among Russia, China and India, Putin knows that at the moment such a tie-up is an unrealistic proposition. Though no military deals were signed during the visit, India's defence ties with Russia continue to be strong and robust. As Putin pointed out gently in one of his meetings with the Indian delegation, "We match our word with deeds." Indeed.