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28 March 2024

Warm Russian, Indian ties outlive Cold War

Published
By Reuters

Russian President Dmitry  Medvedev's warm reception in India, including wrapping up a  stealth jet fighters deal potentially worth $35 billion,  dispels Russian fears its former Cold War ally has turned to  the West. 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has in the space of a few months hosted all the leaders of the five permanent  members of the UN Security Council, said "Russia is a  time-tested friend of India" at the start of Medvedev's  two-day trip on Tuesday. 

"In the past few weeks a number of heads of state have  made visits to India. India has emerged as one of the fastest  and  (most) powerful economies with plus 8 percent GDP growth  rate," Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said on Wednesday in New  Delhi. 

"In the whole world only India and China could withstand  the recession in the past. This shows the resilience of India  and its increasing role in world politics and economy," he said. 

Russia has been India's close economic and  political partner since Soviet days, and monopolised India's  defence market for decades, but India has been steadily  reducing its reliance on one country to reflect its growing  influence on the world stage. 

"President Dmitry Medvedev has done well to dispel the  growing misperception that Indo-Russian relations have lost  their salience amidst India's new warmth with the U.S. and the  West," the Indian Express newspaper said in an editorial. 

Medvedev will spend his last day in India  visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, meeting students in Mumbai and  touring "Bollywood" film studios, a big export industry to  Russia. 

Medvedev, a photography buff who frequently posts his own  photos on the Internet, took pictures of the 17th century  monument dedicated to love, the state-run news agency RIA said. 

"The Taj Mahal is a unique achievement of mankind,"  Mevedev wrote in the guest book. 

Russia joined the United States and France in  offering support for India for a permanent seat at an expanded  Security Council to reflect the growing might of emerging  economies. 

India says a seat on the Security Council would reflect  the G20 nation's importance as its $1.3 trillion economy helps spur global growth and its government exerts more and more  influence over issues from Doha trade to climate talks. 

Reform is unlikely to happen quickly, however, with China  decidedly lukewarm about admitting its regional rival to the UN top table. 

India's growing ties with the United States, underscored  by a landmark civil nuclear deal, has made Russia ill at ease. 

India, the second fastest-growing major economy in the  world after China, is one of the top arms importers and plans  to spend about $50 billion on defence in the next few years to  upgrade its ageing Soviet-era arsenal, mainly to counter a  perceived China threat. 

World leaders, accompanied by top executives, are hungry  to secure a slice of India's largely undeveloped economy,  expected to grow at near-double digit rates for the next  decade, making it one of the five largest economies in the  world by 2020. 

Russia has long seen India, which has a tradition of  walking a careful line to avoid  backing one camp over another, as a counterweight to China and  a potential ally in Afghanistan. 

"The strategic, economic and political importance of  Russia can not be overstated," said Bhaskar Roy, a New  Delhi-based strategic affairs columnist. 

"India needs Russia for its energy requirements, to  counter-balance China, for retaining influence in Afghanistan  once the Western troops leave, for influence in energy-rich  Central Asia, and generally for support and backing at all  major international fora. India needs Russia to realise its  ambitions, global goals," Roy said. 

No details were given as to the size of the potential  aircraft deal between Russia and India, but both countries  have in the past talked about producing 250-300 such fighters  over 10 years, unofficially said to be worth about $35 billion. 

"That in turn has enormously increased India's bargaining  power with the US and European suppliers of advanced  conventional weapons," the Indian Express said. 

Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, France's Dassault   Rafale, Lockheed Martin Corp's F-16,  Russia's MiG-35, Sweden's Saab  JAS-39 Gripen and  the Eurofighter Typhoon   are  competing for a separate order from India for 126 fighter  jets, valued at about $10.4 billion. 

India and Russia agreed to open talks on building a third  and fourth reactors for a nuclear power plant in India's  southern state of Tamil Nadu, but failed to sign a firm deal  because of Russian concerns over a recently passed liabilities bill.