Why Russia is a partner of choice for India
Russian deputy Prime Minister Rogozin’s visit to India on December 23 for a meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation represents existing structured institutional high-level dialogues with Russia that underpin the bilateral relationship whose importance should not be underrated in the conduct of our foreign policy.
Russia remains a partner of choice as very few countries can match its profile. It is the biggest country geographically, has immense natural resources, a powerful military and a massive nuclear arsenal. It is self-sufficient in energy, has a strong and stable leadership and great experience in diplomacy. It has a vast Asian dimension, which adds to its relevance for India.
Governance
India and Russia share thinking on several aspects of global governance such as respecting state sovereignty, opposing interference in the internal affairs of countries and policies of regime change. Both are against any unilateral imposition of sanctions as well as double standards on dealing with issues of democracy, human rights and terrorism. Both support reform of the international political and financial institutions as well as inclusive internet governance. A rule-based international order cannot ignore such thinking that has wide international support.
We have convergent interests in combating international terrorism. America’s unsuccessful wars on terror have generated new threats and insecurities, especially in West Asia where we have critical energy, financial and manpower interests. Russian intervention in Syria and the destruction of the Islamic State there have benefited the international community as a whole.
Russia is not encouraging the Iran-Saudi Arabia and Shia-Sunni conflict in West Asia which US support to Saudi Arabia and hostility towards Iran is exacerbating. That Russia will be against any renegotiation of the Iran nuclear deal serves our interest too. Russia has now become a power to contend with in West Asia which means that our lines of communication with it on developments there need to be further strengthened.
On the less positive side, a gap between us has developed in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region where Russia is hesitant to join us in formulations that would point at Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism against us. It has also begun to describe the Taliban as a legitimate political force in Afghanistan, which implies deflecting pressure on Pakistan on no longer providing safe havens to these extremist groups.
This re-definition of policy also explains its military exercises with Pakistan and supply of offensive defence equipment to it. While we would need to keep apprising the Russians of our concerns, we have to recognise some realities pragmatically and look at such emerging divergences in their right proportion.
We have deep defence ties with Russia — a legacy of the last six decades. Even though we have developed strong defence ties with others, almost 70 per cent of our defence equipment remains of Russian origin. Russia does not apply sanctions or delay supplies for political reasons.
We have signed or are negotiating additional defence contracts which will maintain Russia’s position as a principal defence partner. Russia provides us sensitive technologies that other countries do not. The DTTI with the US has not produced any meaningful results and treating India as a major defence partner does not assure transfer of sensitive technologies.
Requirements
Russian arms supplies are not accompanied by stringent end-use monitoring requirements and are also not contingent on signing a set of foundational agreements. Other than defence, energy ties with Russia have become increasingly important, with large investments both ways in this sector in recent years. Russia is the only country building nuclear power plants in India. Our trade ties — with two-way trade at less than $8 billion (Rs 51,000 crore) — are the weakest link in our bilateral relationship and efforts to remedy the situation have not met with the desired success.
While our relations with US have improved dramatically and the latest review of America’s national security strategy testifies to this, some US policies are not only not convergent with our interests but would also require maintaining close ties with traditional partners like Russia to avoid creating vulnerabilities for ourselves.
Inconsistent
Under Donald Trump, US policy has become unpredictable and inconsistent. He has upset his allies in Europe. His treatment of Russia as America’s principal geopolitical enemy, thwarting its European ambitions and subjecting it to sanctions, has compelled it to move eastwards and strengthen relations with China, with consequences for us. Vladimir Putin has spelt out in his annual press conference on December 14 the durability of Russia’s strategic shift towards China. Russia has now started supplying high-end weaponry to China and is supporting its Belt and Road Initiative.
A fallout of this shift is Russia’s reservations about the emerging US-India-Japan-Australia Quad. Trump’s approach to China is variable, and notwithstanding the latest national security strategy review document which is harsh on China, it is uncertain how much will get translated into active policy, meaning that our multi-pronged approach to international diplomacy must continue.
Trump is questioning multilateral trade agreements and is prepared to undercut the rule-based order under the WTO, which India, Russia and others support. Ironically, the rules-based world order built by the US is being undermined not only by China but by the US itself in many ways.
All these developments underline the necessity of managing our Russia ties to our best advantage and maintaining a balanced foreign policy.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)