International Relations

India Russia relations

• It was deeply ironic that the KGB found democratic India so much more
congenial than Communist China, North Korea and Vietnam. – Vasili
Mitrokhin
• We are confident that India lives in the hearts of every Russian. In the same
way, I can assure you that Russia also lives in our souls as a Homeland. Long
live our friendship! - Pratibha Patil.
• Our mutual ties of friendship are filled with sympathy, and trust, and
openness. - Dmitry Medvedev.
• PM Modi invoked a Russian proverb to reaffirm India-Russia friendship in a
changing world: “An old friend is better than two new ones.”
• Druzhba-Dosti: India-Russia
Historical Overview
• India-USSR- Before India’s Independence
• Russian Revolution of 1905 inspired Indian freedom fighters.
• Gandhi – Leo Tolstoy link.
• Lenin’s theory of imperialism.
• Nehru visited the Soviet Union in 1927, on the occasion of the 10th
anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.
• He was convinced that a poor developing country like India needed to follow not the
capitalist path but a socialistic one. He was highly impressed by the Five year centralised
planning of Lenin.
Historical Overview
India-USSR relations – (1950-1990)
• A cordial relationship with India that began in
the 1950s represented the most successful of
the Soviet attempts to foster closer relations
with Third World countries.
• 1955: Jawaharlal Nehru visit to the Soviet
Union and Khrushchev’s return trip to India in
the fall of 1955.
• 1955: Khrushchev announced that the USSR
supported Indian sovereignty over the
disputed territory of the Kashmir region and
Goa.
• 1962: Soviet Union declared its neutrality
during Sino-Indian war.
• 1962: Soviet Union agreed to transfer
technology to co-produce the Mikoyan-
Gurevich MiG-21 jet fighter in India, which
the Soviet Union had earlier denied to China.
• 1965: Soviet Union served successfully as
peace broker between India and Pakistan
after an Indian-Pakistani border war.
• 1971: Treaty of Peace and friendship and
support during the Indo Pak War.
• 1979: Indo-USSR relations strained due to
Afghan war.
• 1986: Mikhail Gorbachev unsuccessfully
urged Rajiv Gandhi to help the Soviet Union
set up an Asian collective security system.
Historical Overview
India- Russia Relations – (1990-2000)
• Post 1990s : Rising Atlanticism in Russian foreign policy
• Russian president, Boris Yeltsin came to India Jan 1993.
• In his speech to the Indian parliament he admitted the difficulties for
which he had to look to the west to pull Russia out of the difficulties
in which the country found itself.
• In this phase India and Russia found entangled in a web of
controversies and differences.
• Cryogenic deal, Arms transfer, Rupee-rouble exchange, Kashmir issue etc.
Historical Overview
• 21st Century
• 2000 : Indo-Russian relations continued to be strengthened by Putin and
Vajpayee Governments.
• Atomic energy cooperation , strategic partnership and trade and cultural
cooperation. Russia India pledged to fight international terrorism together.
• 2001: IRIGC started after the strategic partnership.
• 2009: India and Russia agreed to extend the IRIGC-MTC by another ten
years till 2020. The IRIGC-MTC remains the bedrock of the current bilateral
military cooperation and India has made big-ticket purchases from Russia.
Historical Overview
• 2010: Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a Special and
Privileged Strategic Partnership.
• 2012: Russia supports India’s intention to seek full membership of the NSG
and other multilateral export control regimes like the MTCR and Wassenaar
Arrangements.
• 2015: Druzhba-Dosti: A Vision for strengthening the Indian-Russian
Partnership over the next decade.
• 2016: India-Russia annual talks and BRICS summit held side by side.
• 2019: Indian prime minister was awarded the ‘Order of St Andrew the
Apostle’ Russia's highest civilian award.
• 2019: India’s focus on Russian Far East.
Sochi Informal Summit May 2018
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladmir Putin on May
21, 2018 in an informal summit in Sochi, a coastal city in Russia.
• The two leaders met for "agenda-less" talks.
• Modi called the interaction "extremely productive".
• They (Modi and Putin) recognized each other's respective roles as major
powers with common responsibilities for maintaining global peace and
stability.
• Modi's visit to Sochi was in the backdrop of three developments:
• (CAATSA)
• US china Trade war
• Trump is all set to re-impose pre-2015 sanctions on Iran albeit dissent from
European nations has delayed imposition.
19th Indo Russia Annual summit Oct 2018
• President of Russia federation, Vladimir Putin visited India for annual India-
Russia Summit 2018. It is the 19th edition of the India-Russia annual bilateral
summit.
• Major Agreements Signed during the Summit
• India signed a $5.43 billion deal with Russia for the supply of S-400 Triumf
missile defense system.
• India and Russia have set the target of increasing mutual investments up to
$15 billion. Currently, the bilateral trade is close to $10 Billion.
• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Federal Space Agency of
Russia ‘ROSCOSMOS’ signed a MoU for cooperation on India’s human space
mission project Gaganyaan.
• Russia will build 12 units of Nuclear Power Plants in the next 20 years.
• Other areas of agreements include MoUs on small industries, fertilizers, and
consultation between foreign ministries.
• 20th Indo Russia Annual summit Sep 2019
• Modi visited to Vladivostok. He became the first Indian prime minister to visit
the Russian Far East Region.
• PM mentioned Siberian Crane-Gujarat link.
• PM visited the Zvezda Shipyard
• PM was also chief guest of the 5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
• India and Russia exchanged 25 agreements in the field of defence, trade,
industrial cooperation, investments, connectivity corridors and energy.
• India and Russia agree to make AK-203 rifles.
• Full-fledged maritime route proposed between Chennai and Vladivostok.
• Modi: “Russia is an integral friend”.
• Harsh Pant
• A lack of manpower is one of the main problems faced by the Far East and
Indian professionals like doctors, engineers and teachers can help in the
region’s development. Presence of Indian manpower will also help in
balancing Russian concerns over Chinese migration into the region.
• Sudha Ramachandran
• Modi has pledged a $1 billion Line of Credit for development of the Russian
Far East.
• The India-Russia relationship in the Russian Far East is complementary. Indian
analysts point out that while the region is labor-scarce, it is resource rich. The
Russian Far East needs capital, technology and markets. Meanwhile, India is a
country with a labor-surplus and a resource-deficit, in need of energy, mineral
resources and farming land.
Areas of cooperation
IRIGC
• The Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) is the
main body that conducts affairs at the governmental level between
both countries.
• It is divided into two parts, the first covering Trade, Economic,
Scientific, Technological and Cultural Co-operation.This is normally co-
chaired by the Russian Deputy Prime Minister and the Indian External
Affairs Minister.
• The second part of the commission covers Military Technical Co-
operation this is co-chaired by the two countries respective Defence
Ministers.
• Both parts of IRIGC meet annually.
Defence cooperation
• MiG-21
• Sukhoi SU-30MKI
• Brahmos
• Vikramaditya
• Kamov-226T Helicopters
• S-400 Triumf MDS
• Joint exercises between the two
Armed Forces are held under the
title "INDRA".
• Over the years, cooperation in the
military technical sphere has
evolved from a purely buyer-seller
relationship to joint research,
design development and
production of state of the art
military platforms.
• Production of the Brahmos cruise
missile is an example of this trend.
• The two countries are also engaged
in joint design and development of
the Fifth Generation Fighter
Aircraft and Multi-Role Transport
Aircraft.
Regional and International Cooperation
• Both Russia and India support the concept of a multi-polar world, an
idea shared by China and many others. This vision supports the co-
existence of multiple powers and possibilities in the international
system.
• Nivedita Kapoor
• India Russia have the chance to cooperate on issues in various multilateral
forums such as the United Nations, the BRICS, SCO, G20, RIC and the East Asia
Summit.
Nuclear and energy cooperation
• OVL Sakhalin 1 Project.
• Gazprom –GAIL deal on the annual supply of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG to
India.
• Essar- Rosneft deal worth $13b.
• Kudankulam
• India and Russia are involved in the Rooppur nuclear plant project in
Bangladesh on a trilateral basis.
Space cooperation
• Aryabhatta
• Rakesh Sharma in Soyuz
• GLONASS
• Chandrayaan 2
• Gaganyaan
Cultural cooperation
• Nikitin – A journey beyond three seas.
• Bollywood
• About 20 Russian Institutions regularly teach Hindi to 1500 Russian
students.
• There is general interest among Russian people in Indian dance, music,
Yoga and Ayurveda.
• There are regular cultural initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts
between India and Russia, including reciprocal Years of each others’
culture.
• ‘Namaste Russia’ and ‘Namaste Russia’.
• India can provide a solution to the demographic problem apart from being
a partner in investing in energy and other projects in the region.
Areas of concern
Bilateral trade issues
• The goal of reaching • Nandan Unnikrishnan
US$20 billion in trade
by 2015 was not even
close to being achieved.
• In contrast, India–US
trade was recorded at
US$142.1 billion
in 2018 and Russia-
China trade had
reached US$107.06
billion.
• India and Russia have
now targeted $30 b
annual trade by 2025.
• The trade relationship needs active intervention to
take advantage of policies like ‘Make in India’.
Concrete proposals in the areas already identified
by the two countries need to be implemented on a
priority basis. These include start-ups,
infrastructure, shipbuilding, river-navigation, high-
speed railways, space, food processing, and high-
technology products (e.g. space technology,
aviation, new materials, agriculture, information
and communication technologies, medicine,
pharmaceuticals, robotics, nanotechnology,
supercomputing technologies, artificial intelligence
and material sciences).
Bilateral trade issues
• What are in bottlenecks in Indo-Russian Trade relations?
• Himani Pant highlights issues like
• Transport
• Lack of interest from Private sector
• Lack of trade facilitation infrastructure
• Lack of Knowledge
• Suggestions
• INSTC
• LNG
• Green energy
• Indian Pharma and IT
• Russian Diamonds
• Swap
Defence issues
• There is relative stagnation of India-Russia ties.
• US emerged as the top arms supplier to India, pushing Russia to
second position in 2014.
• The military-technical ties have formed the bedrock of the bilateral
relationship, a decline in the sector is a very serious matter of
concern.
• Dmitri Trenin has noted, the pattern of Indo-Russian relationship has
failed to evolve in the changing global scenario.
Strategic Differences
• Indo-US v. Russia-Pak-China Axis
• India became a major defence partner of the US (2016), it began the 2+2
dialogue (2018), and signed LEMOA in 2016 and COMCASA in2018
• Reaction:
• Russia overturned its decades-old policy and after 2014 supplied China with advanced
weapons systems including Sukhoi 35 and the S400 missile defence system.
• Russia also engaged with Pakistan, much to the dismay of India, through the sale of Mi-
35 helicopters and engines for JF-17 Thunder, and also began joint military exercises.
Strategic Differences
• Harsh pant - New equations like US-India-Afghanistan and on the
other side China-Pak-Russia are emerging in South Asia.
• C Raja Mohan - Get Real on Russia – India draws closer to USA and
questions if Russia draws closer to Pakistan and China. India must
stop taking Russia for granted.
• Srinath Raghavan suggests that Russia have been always realist.
• Prof. SD Muni: It can impact only when the closeness deepens in the
Strategic cooperation with Pakistan, which doesn't seem to happen in
the near future as of now. We should not draw some long conclusions
from just a military exercise or some arms sale.
Strategic Differences
• Definition of Indo Pacific
• Nandan Unnikrishnan
• Divergences over foreign policy priorities are likely to continue in the future. The most
prominent of this is the Russian displeasure over the ideation of the “Indo-Pacific”.
• The two also have a divergence of opinion over Afghanistan, although intensive discussions
have led to certain clarity.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it an “artificially imposed construct” being
promoted by the US, Australia and Japan, to contain China.
• PM Modi in his Shangri La speech made it clear that the concept of Indo-Pacific for India is
based on “inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity”.
• Alexei Zakharov
• The Indo-Pacific concept is not endorsed by Russian officialdom for it has been actively
promoted by the Donald Trump administration. For India, Washington’s increased focus on
the Indo-Pacific is considered favourable as it demonstrates its centrality in the region. Thus,
the usage of terms is an indicator of different prisms through which Moscow and New Delhi
view regional processes. Their approaches towards the Indo-Pacific are thus not broadly
congruent
A roadmap
• Ashok Sajjanhar
• Bilateral trade has continued to perform far below potential. It is essential for private business in the two countries as well as governments and
financial institutions to identify commodities that enjoy good potential.
• Harsh Pant
• The challenge in front of India and Russia is that they need to transform a 20th century partnership and make it fit for the 21st century.
• Great power rivalry is back in international politics, making it more unpredictable.
• In times when U.S. President Trump is interested in ‘deglobalisation’ and China is promoting ‘globalisation 2.0 with Chinese characteristics’, it
makes sense for India and Russia to increase their areas of cooperation and trade in order to hedge against disruptive forces and make their
ties sustainable.
• Alexei Zakharov
• With the Moscow-Washington relationship in a downward spiral, Indian diplomacy will require a masterful approach in its interactions with the
two.
• A closer engagement with the U.S. is a challenge for India, as this relationship is not likely to be a partnership of equals, for the foreseeable
future.
• On the other hand, the intensifying cooperation between Russia and China and the growing Moscow-Islamabad ties lead New Delhi to search
for new sources of reliability.
• India, on its way to become a global power, will follow a zigzag course, balancing between American demands, long-term friendship with
Russia and its own strategic necessities in the neighbourhood and beyond.
• India, putting all eggs in one basket might create overdependence on one partner and ultimately not serve Indian interests well.