PM to endorse Indian view on Afghanistan

new delhi: prime minister atal behari vajpayee leaves on a trip to russia, the united states and britain this sunday, determined to promote new delhi's interests in a post-taliban afghanistan. india is keen to ensure that islamabad -- washington's frontline ally in the us-led war against afghanistan -- is not allowed to dictate the makeup of a new government in kabul.vajpayee will hold talks in moscow with president vladimir putin during his november 4 to 7 trip to russia, india's friend during the cold war era. vajpayee will also sign a framework agreement on a three-day visit here starting on sunday that paves the way for russia's construction of a nuclear power plant in southern india, officials said on friday. the agreement will determine how many reactors will be set up at the kudankulum plant in tamil nadu, nuclear power minister alexander rumyantsev told interfax. the price of the plant will depend on how many nuclear reactors india decides to set up, each vver-1000 unit costing $600 million, said rumyantsev. moscow and new delhi initially agreed on the plant's construction some 13 years ago, but the project was abandoned following the soviet union's collapse. the deal was resurrected when former russian president boris yeltsin visited india in 1998. officials in india earlier said that russia would supply the design and 90 per cent of the equipment for the plant and also provide 54 per cent of the credit at four per cent interest. the plant will supply power to the four southern states of andhra pradesh, karnataka, kerala and tamil nadu. vajpayee will then head to washington for his first meeting with president george w bush on november 9 and then go to new york to attend the un general assembly session. on his return on november 12, vajpayee will stop in london for a day to meet prime minister tony blair. "india will want to make an assessment of how far the leaders of these two countries are responsive to indian concerns," retired diplomat j n dixit said. at the same time, vajpayee is expected to come under heavy pressure to ensure that escalating tensions with pakistan over kashmir do not erupt into a conflict that could jeopardise the military campaign to oust the taliban regime in afghanistan. pakistan, which helped propel the taliban to power and is keen not to lose its influence over its neighbour, wants the inclusion of moderate taliban leaders in any new government. us secretary of state colin powell said in islamabad last week some taliban members could be part of a future government. but india, along with russia and iran, is adamant that no taliban leaders be included, fearful about the spread of extremist islamic influence in the region. "a moderate taliban is an oxymoron," foreign ministry spokeswoman nirupama rao said. india, russia and iran are staunch backers of the northern alliance, the main opposition to the militant islamic regime. "india will want to make sure that the taliban, which has been an exporter of terrorism to kashmir and other places, plays no role in the any government," said brahma chellany, an analyst at centre for policy research in new delhi. india, russia and afghanistan's northern alliance are pushing for a broad-based coalition government that reflects afghanistan's multi-ethnic population. (agencies)