Indo-Russian relationship have stood the test of time established since Indian independence . Soviet Union had a cardinal role in setting the foundations of Indian industrial base. Eight of India’s 16 heavy industry in the period 1956-61 were built with Soviet help.In 1971 the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendships and Co-operation that stands till date in its revised version. In 2000 dawned the era of strategic partnership between the two nations that saw close coordination the areas of international peace and security and resolution of global and regional issues. Later in 2000 two very important institutional dialogue mechanisms were set up. These were Indo-Russia Inter Governmental Commission or IRIGC for short. IRIGC had two platforms; IRIGC –TEC dealing with technological and cultural Co-operation and IRIGC-MTC dealing with military technical cooperation. Bilateral cooperation expanded to areas of oil exploration, solar energy, gas and others.
Defence has been a solid platform of mutual support and cooperation in the Indo-Russia relations. Many different types of weapon and support systems arrived in India from USSR from early 60s to late 80s on Inter Government agreements. Russia is a major supplier of defence equipment to the India armed forces, with at least 60% of their arms inventory of Russian origin. Pursued over many decades at the Inter-Governmental level and latter through the IRIGC route, the USSR/Russian footprint in our defence inventory has grown over time. Starting with MiGs to Sukhois, to kiloclass submarines, Talwar class frigates, T series of tanks ( T 72, T 90), multi barrel rocket launchers and almost 76%of all inventory of ground based AD weapon systems ( schilka, Tunguska gun/missiles, Igla MANPAD, SAMs – Strela, OSA, Kvadrat, Pechora,) and Smerch rockets. BrahMos has been a success story. More recent joint ventures include Kamov helicopters and the fifth generation fighter aircraft.
India has ordered from Russia a total of USD 14.5 billion worth of weapons and other military equipment, according to a senior Russian defence official. “Last year and today saw the emergence of a tremendous portfolio of contracts in contrast to all previous years, USD 14.5 billion. This is an impressive figure, it’s a real breakthrough,” the chief of the federal service for military-technical cooperation, Dmitry Shugayev, said in August 2019.
India is planning to purchase 33 fighter jets from Russia amid ongoing border tensions with China. Under the proposed government-to-government deal, Russia will supply 21 MiG 29 fighter jets and 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft to Indian Air Force (IAF). The deal is estimated to cost Rs60bn ($787.6m), reported ANI. According to a WION news report, Russia will assess the feasibility of delivering the jets in the shortest possible timeframe. Currently, Russia is also working with the IAF to support the modernisation of MiG 29 fighters. The upgrades will improve the combat capabilities of MiG-29 fighters, as well as enable the aircraft to integrate new weapons and technologies. The modernisation is expected to increase the service life of MiG 29 fighters by up to 40 years. On the other hand, the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft is the only fighter in IAF arsenal that can fire BrahMos supersonic missiles.
Now India-Russia military technical cooperation is evolving from a simple buyer – seller framework to one involving joint research, development and production of advanced defence technologies and systems. BrahMos Missile System, Joint design and development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft, as well as the licensed production in India of SU-30 aircraft and T-90 tanks, are examples of such flagship cooperation. The two countries also hold exchanges and training exercises between their armed forces annually.
Addressing the media jointly with Putin after the talks, Modi said the relations between India and Russia have been unwavering, based on “mutual love, respect and strong trust“. “From culture to security, our relations have been at par… We speak in one language,” he added. He said the two leaders had decided to speed up the bilateral cooperation in all fields, for which an ‘Action Plan’ has been devised. During the Recent Visit of PM Modi to Russia, India and Russia signed the much-awaited agreement on setting up of two more units of a nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu and decided to give a “new direction” to the defence cooperation between the two “great powers“.
The level of cooperation between India and Russia in military technology transfer is ‘unprecedented’ and Moscow is ready to develop military and technical cooperation with Delhi on a long-term basis, Russia’s Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said in Dec 2018. “The intensity and the depth of military and technical cooperation speak about the unprecedented level of trust between our countries,” Shoigu said at a meeting with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Russian defense minister said he was confident that “no other state cooperates with India in the sphere of the transfer of armament and military hardware production technologies as close as Russia.” “Our cooperation spreads to the most sensitive spheres,” Shoigu said. As an example, Russia’s defense chief cited the contracts for the delivery of S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems and Project 11356 frigates signed with India despite external pressure.
As tensions between China and India over Ladakh standoff , Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh used a visit to Moscow to urge Russia — the country’s biggest weapons supplier — to speed up delivery of its powerful S-400 Triumph air defence missile system, according to Indian media reports. Combined with India’s aircraft designed for high-altitude combat, the defence system could pose a threat to China’s military, according to observers.
However, Russia has not once comment on the Ladakh standoff, it now transpires that it won’t in the future either. It has created setback for Indian leadership who had hoped that Russia may use it’s use its good offices with China to put some some pressure on China. However continuing US sanctions on Russia as well as its determination to paint Putin as the bad guy is driving Moscow into Beijing’s arms. Since sanctions began to bite, and sharp decline in global oil and natural gas prices, Putin has reached out to China to fill the investment gap, drawing up a $400bn gas supply deal, a potential $230bn rail link, fighter jet sales and deals to bring China’s UnionPay payment system to Russia’s banks. Since then, Russia and china have developed all-round strategic partnership, which covered political, economic, security and diplomatic issues. Russia, according to Putin’s 23 October 2020 statement, “could enter into a military alliance with China”.
It will not choose between India and China because it doesn’t want to, according to head of the Carnegie Moscow Center Dmitri Trenin, Russia looks at the world differently, Trenin added, compared to Delhi or Washington DC or Beijing, pointing out that it was in Moscow’s interest to encourage a multipolar world in which several powerful axes, besides the US, existed.
Recently Amid China threat the military and strategic cooperation has been increasing and US already declaring India as a major defence partner of the United States. During the Trump administration, the US has become the second-largest arms supplier to India, growing from virtually no sales a decade ago to more than $20 billion today. They began a new generation of military and security cooperation by signing Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), a legal framework that enables the transfer of critical, secure and encrypted communications between weapon platforms to facilitate “interoperability”.
However, India’s concern that growing US India cooperation may affect it’s relations with Russsia.There has being growing Russia- pakistan relations.Russia, has signed an agreement with Pakistan for naval cooperation in July 2018, which is causing concern in strategic circles in New Delhi. The MoU between the two countries, which were once considered bitter rivals, was inked during the visit of Pakistan Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat to the Russian Federation. The MoU comes close on the heels an accord between the two countries in April to enhance cooperation in the training of armed forces personnel in the naval field and conduct of wide range of joint military exercises. Pakistan has lately been turning towards Russia in terms of military support after US President Donald Trump halted the aid to the country in his new year’s tweet.
Putin clearly stated that Russian relations with India were ‘based on trust’ and ties with other countries would ‘not dilute’ ties with one of its ‘closest friends’. He went on to say that Russia’s military ties with Pakistan were ‘not tight’. He also emphatically supported India’s fight against terrorism, “no matter where the threat comes, it is unacceptable.” India had been concerned with growing military ties of Russia with China and Pakistan.
Russia said in Dec 2020 that India should not be worried about its relationship with Pakistan but noted that Moscow is committed to developing ties with Islamabad as it is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Deputy Chief of the Russian mission Roman Babushkin said, “Russia is very cautious when it comes to respecting the sensitivities. But at the same time we regard our relationship with Pakistan as independent in nature and we also have bilateral trade and economic agenda. We are quite committed to developing this relationship further including from the point of view of Pakistan being a partner country in the framework of the SCO.”
Babushkin said the military drills with Pakistan were part of the counter-terror framework and such collaborations including experience sharing and capacity building is natural for all the SCO member states. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is an eight-nation bloc which is largely dominated by Russia and China, and is being increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO. India and Pakistan became permanent members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2017.
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