News Highlights
India – Russia relation marks 75 anniversary which is a all whether partnership
Analysis of India – Russia Relation
- India and Russia is considered as all weather friendship and time tested irritentants
- Timeline of India – Russia Relation
Areas of Cooperation
Political Relation
- The Annual Summit Meeting between India’s Prime Minister and Russia’s President is the highest level of institutionalised engagement in the strategic alliance between India and Russia.
- Both countries share common platforms like
- BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
- G2O
- United Nations
- Australia Group
- Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)
- Russia supports India for permanent membership in the United Nation Security Council.
- 2017 marks 70 years of establishing bilateral relation
- India – Russia intergovernmental commission.
- India and Russia share common issue of terrorism that Chechiyan rebels
- Cooperation in the case of the Syrian issue.
- Both leaders meet as part of the Informal Summit.
- In keeping with the tradition of high-level political exchanges between India and Russia, the first informal summit was held in the Russian Federation city of Sochi in 2018.
- The Summit provided an opportunity for both leaders to deepen their friendship and exchange views on international and regional issues.
- Russia backed India’s membership in the Nuclear Supply Group.
- India’s neutral stand in case of Ukraine crisis.
Defence Relation
- In the field of defence, India and Russia have a long-standing and broad partnership, with Russia providing over 60% of India’s defence equipment.
- Procurement of Kiev class aircraft carrier ( INS Vikramaditya)
- Russia has made technology transfer to India for production weapons like BrahMos Missile System , SU-30 aircraft and T-90 tanks
- During the 20th Annual Bilateral Summit in Vladivostok in 2019, an agreement on cooperation in the production of spare parts for Russian and Soviet military equipment was inked.
- Indian procurement of weapons like Ka-226T helicopters , igla missiles , S – 400 air defence system.
- In 2019, the Indian Prime Minister announced the Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt. Ltd. Joint Venture for the production of AK Series Assault Rifles at Ordnance Factory Korwa as part of the ‘Make-in-India’ programme in Amethi.
- Joint Exercise
- INDIRA – Army Exercise
- Avi INDIRA – Air Exercise
Economic Relation
- The leaders on both sides have selected intensifying trade and economic cooperation as a priority area, as evidenced by revised targets of boosting bilateral investment to $50 billion and bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2025.
- Joint investment in projects like
- Operationalization of the ‘Green Corridor’ project
- International North-South Transport Corridor
- Institutional mechanism for economic development like
- India Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific & Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC)
- India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue (IRSED)
Science and Technology
- Russia give technology support for Kudankulam Nuclear plant
- Russian space agency of ROSCOSMOS provide training to Indian astronauts as part of Gaganyan project
- Joint Arctic expedition
- Monex expedition
- Support for navigation by GLONASS
- Traditional Knowledge Digital Library.
Cultural Relation
- Cultural exchange programs and diaspora
- Russian studies on yoga , ayurveda.
Why is Russia significant for India?
- Military supplier
- Supplier of energy like oil.
- Check on China
Why is India significant for Russia?
- Market potential for Russia
- Balance of power in Asia
- Check on China rise
Challenges in Relation
- India’s USA tilt
- Russia – Pakistan – China nexus
Recent Development
India – Russia deal on radio equipment
- Radio technical Systems (RTS) of Russia has signed a large-scale contract with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the supply of radio equipment.
- The Russian company will manufacture 34 sets of instrument landing system (ILS) 734 for the modernisation of 24 airports in India.
- The contract comes amid the war in Ukraine and pressure from the West on India to diversify its dependence for defence needs.
- According to the contract, the first part of landing systems ILS734 must be shipped before November.
- Payments within the transaction will be carried out in national currencies,
- Significance of Deal
- The contract between RTS and AAI has become a breakthrough for Russian business in the highly competitive market of ground based radio equipment in India.
- There is no doubt that the successful execution of the contract will open up new opportunities for the implementation of joint projects to modernize Indian airport infrastructure
Russian Duma Propose new G8
- The Russian Duma speaker opinions the countries who refused to participate in the sanction war to form a new grouping of G8 as an alternative to US dominated G7.
- The eight countries include China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Iran, Turkey that account GDP at PPP is 24.4 per cent
- Significance of Move
- By this move Russia can influence not only India and China but also Latin American countries
Way Forward
- India – Russia partnership can act as a check on western dominance in the region and control China’s aggression in the Indo – Pacific.
Pic Courtesy : The Economic Times
Content Source : Indian Express