India and Post-Communist Countries

All of the post communist countries have maintained good relations with India. However, the most robust ties continue to be those between Russia and India, which are an essential part of India’s Foreign Policy.

• Indo-Russian Relations: There are historical ties between India and Russia and a high level of trust between the two countries. Even popular culture has links, such as Bollywood, popular in Russia and other post-Soviet countries
• Russia and India both believe in the multipolar world order

Multipolarity means the coexistence of multiple powers in the international system, collective security (in which an attack on any country is viewed as a threat to all countries and necessitates a coordinated response), greater regionalism, negotiated settlements of international conflicts, an independent foreign policy for all nations, and decision-making through bodies such as the UN that should be strengthened, democratized, and empowered.

• As part of the Indo-Russian Relations, Indo-Russia Strategic Agreement signed in 2001, India and Russia signed over 80 bilateral agreements
• India stands to gain from its relationship with Russia in Kashmir, energy supplies, information sharing on international terrorism, access to Central Asia, and balancing its relations with China
• Oil resources from Russia have aided India in the face of a domestic oil crisis
• India is also looking forward to energy resources with the republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
• Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and has aided India’s space industry by providing, for example, a cryogenic rocket when India needed one. Russia and India have collaborated on various scientific projects

India-USSR Relations During the Cold war

• During the Cold War, India and the USSR had a special relationship, prompting critics to claim India was in the Soviet camp
• It was a multidimensional relationship
• Economic:  the Soviet Union aided India’s public-sector firms. It provided financial and technical assistance to steel plants such as Bhilai, Bokaro, and Visakhapatnam and machinery plants such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., among others

When India ran out of foreign exchange, the Soviet Union accepted Indian currency for trade.

• Political: the Soviet Union backed India’s position in the United Nations on the Kashmir issue
• It also backed India during major conflicts, such as the 1971 war with Pakistan. India, too, aided Soviet foreign policy in important but indirect ways
• Military: India obtained the majority of its military hardware from the Soviet Union when few other countries were willing to part with military technologies. The Soviet Union entered into several agreements that allowed India and the Soviet Union to co-produce military equipment
• Culture: In the Soviet Union, Hindi films and Indian culture were popular. A large number of Indian writers and artists traveled to the Soviet Union

Famous Leaders:

• Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924): Founder of the Bolshevik Communist Party; leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution and founder-head of the USSR during the most challenging period following the revolution (1917-1924); outstanding Marxist theorist and practitioner, and a source of inspiration for communists all over the world
• Joseph Stalin (1879-1953): Lenin’s successor and leader of the Soviet Union during its consolidation (1924-53); initiated rapid industrialization and forcible collectivization of agriculture; credited with Soviet victory in World War II; held responsible for the Great Terror of the 1930s, authoritarian functioning, and the elimination of rivals within the Soviet Union
• Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971): Soviet Union’s leader from 1953 to 1964; denounced Stalin’s leadership style and instituted some reforms in 1956; proposed “peaceful coexistence” with the West; suppressing the popular rebellion in Hungary and the Cuban missile crisis
• Leonid Brezhnev (1906-82): Soviet Union leader (1964-82) who proposed the Asian Collective Security System and was involved in suppressing a popular rebellion in Czechoslovakia and invading Afghanistan
• Mikhail Gorbachev (Born 1931): Last leader of the Soviet Union (1985-91); implemented perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) economic and political reform policies; ended the arms race with the US; withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and eastern Europe; assisted in the unification of Germany; ended the Cold War; blamed for the Soviet Union’s disintegration
• Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007): The first elected President of Russia (1991- 1999); rose to power in the Communist Party and was appointed Mayor of Moscow by Gorbachev; later joined Gorbachev’s critics and left the Communist Party; led the protests against the Soviet regime in 1991; played a key role in dissolving the Soviet Union; blamed for Russian hardships during the transition from communism to capitalism

Conclusion:

India has maintained strong relations with all post-communist countries. Russia and India, on the other hand, have the strongest ties. Indo-Russian relations have a long history of mutual trust and shared interests, which is matched by high perceptions. Russia and India have traditionally shared a polarised world view. It ensures the coexistence of multiple powers in the international arena, as well as collective security, which implies that an attack on one country will be viewed as a threat to all countries, and a response will be implemented immediately.