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India has historically been a dependable strategic friend of Russia and is aware of Moscow’s assistance during its most trying moments. An essential tenet of India’s foreign policy has been the growth of relations with Russia. Nearly all areas of bilateral relations, including politics, security, defence, trade, economy, research, and culture, see increased levels of Indo-Russian cooperation.
Key takeaways
- Developing ties with Russia has been a critical component of Indian foreign policy.
- The two countries’ unique strategic cooperation has become more robust and complex.
- The buyer-seller paradigm of security cooperation between Russia and India has evolved into one that encompasses joint research, development, and production of cutting-edge defence systems and technologies.
- It recognizes India as a country possessing state-of-the-art nuclear technology and perfect non-proliferation history.
- The KKNPP is being built in India with help from Russia.
Historical Element
During the Soviet era, India and Russia had long-standing intimate ties at the highest levels. However, as the newly formed Russian Federation attempted to restructure its foreign policy, the turmoil of the initial post-Soviet years also affected the Indo-Russian relationship. The Boris Yeltsin government adopted a top-player foreign policy stance in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union. At the same time, India started to open up its economy and turn to the West for commerce and investment. As a result, both nations were preoccupied with home affairs while adjusting to a new global order in which the United States (US) was the only superpower.
Nevertheless, both Russia and India made an effort to mend fences. They agreed to a Treaty of Friendship and Collaboration in 1993, and a Military-Technical Cooperation pact was signed the following year. After a brief time, from 1990 to 1993, when there was a dramatic decline in arms shipments, India would ultimately become one of Russia’s top importers of weaponry. There hasn’t been a commensurate improvement in economic connections, however. The controversy over India’s debt repayment and the rupee-to-rouble exchange rate persisted in the 1990s. The reduction in India’s share in Russian commerce was mainly caused by the collapse of the Russian economy, competition from other rapidly developing countries, the lack of transparency in the post-Soviet legal system, and the collapse of the Russian economy.
The frequent exchanges of cultural and interpersonal ties that had benefited from substantial funding and scholarships during the Soviet Union era also decreased. The number of Indian institutions offering Russian language classes and enrollment in these courses has decreased. The establishment of the yearly meetings involving India and Russia in 2000 marked the beginning of a new endeavour to fortify the two countries’ bilateral ties. The relationship has achieved “the level of a special and preferential strategic partnership,” according to a joint statement released in 2010 to commemorate ten years after the signing of the “Declaration on Strategic Partnership” between the two nations.
Position of India Regarding Recent Conflict
Indian businesses could fill the hole left by Western firms in the pharmaceutical industry. The Russian Ambassador pledged closer collaboration with India on hydrocarbon supplies and said Moscow was ready to consider the idea of supplying India with an S-500 system if New Delhi expressed interest.
While the West has criticised India’s balanced stance in the context of the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict due to its multilateralism policy, Russia has shown sympathy toward India’s perspective on the problem. Denis Alipov, the recently appointed Russian ambassador to India, recently claimed that India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine crisis was “well balanced.” He continued that the current state of affairs would not impact the military-technical cooperation between Russia and India.
The contact with India takes enormous relevance for Russia, given the historical strategic links between the two nations and the context of Russia’s “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine. Moscow sees political communication with India as essential at this point. It also acknowledges that economic cooperation with India is now more crucial than ever due to the escalation of Western sanctions. The visit of Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, to India must therefore be viewed in the context of current operations and through the lens of both nations’ ambitions to forge a long-lasting and significant strategic partnership. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the partnership between India and Russia has a particular strength in that it adheres to its logic and is unaffected by outside pressure.
The Partnership
Friendship and loyalty are qualities that both Russians and Indians respect and share. This fact links the two nations’ citizens—especially those who work in their permanent bureaucracies—in ways that outsiders hardly ever appreciate. The two nations now have a more significant and varied strategic collaboration, one of their most privileged relationships. India and Russia have a long history of extensive defence cooperation. Military-technical cooperation between India and Russia has developed from a buyer-seller model to one that involves collaborative research, development, and manufacture of cutting-edge defence technology and systems. This leading-edge collaboration includes the BrahMos Cruise Missile and the licensed production of T-90 tanks and SU-30 aeroplanes in India.
How It Should Be Done
Re-establishing the multidimensional partnership has been a protracted effort that has also dealt with regional and global geopolitical and economic upheavals. To achieve this, the two nations had to put aside the long-standing romanticism of their Indo-Soviet connections and work together constructively. Today, the camaraderie and trust between the two nations cannot be disputed. However, the differences between the two countries’ objectives have grown more pronounced recently due to both bilateral and global causes, and they could significantly impact how the Indo-Russian relationship develops in the future.
