India-Russia: News & Analysis

[Bart S]

No more war games with Pak: Russia
Tuesday, 21 February 2017 | Vineeta Pandey | New Delhi

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-news ... ussia.html

“For better trust and understanding we do not plan to repeat such exercises with Pakistan as it was not received well in India,” highly-placed sources in the Russian Government told The Pioneer.

I call BS on this until the Russians come out with a public and unambiguous statement. They have been playing both sides and blowing hot and cold on this which just makes them more devious looking.

[Austin]

Thank God that Christianity faith is rising in Russia and Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa is Coming True

How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right

[Philip]

https://in.rbth.com/blogs/tatar_straits ... sus_717193

Did ancient Indians immigrate to the Russian Caucasus?
11 March 2017 AJAY KAMALAKARAN
A mountain in the Russian internal republic of Adygea was named after the Hindu Kush range, and the people of the region practiced a set of exercises and meditations that closely resemble yoga.
When a Russian doctor tried to crack the mystery of the abode of Lord Shiva
How Russian scientists cracked the secret of a Vedic ritual drink
Traditions of Adygea: Fried pies and Caucasian yoga
T
Mount Indyuk in Russia’s Krasnodar Territory. Source: Roman.m63/ wikipedia
While it’s obvious that there’s a strong and deep-rooted spiritual connection between India and Russia, several theories have been doing the rounds as to when these cultures came into direct contact with each other.

A cursory search online will lead one to see claims about Russia being the ancient land of the rishis. In 2007, the Indian media went ballistic when an archaeologist from Ulyanovsk found an idol of Vishnu that dates back to the 10th century in a small village. While no one knows for sure how the idol ended up in a small village in the Ulyanovsk Region, my personal guess would be that Indian traders made their way to the Middle Volga.

Migration from north to south and vice-versa has been taking place since time immemorial. So, it is likely that Indians ended up in modern day Russia hundreds of years before Afanasy Nikitin turned up in Maharashtra.

While watching a documentary recently on southern Russia and the Caucasus, I came across an interesting piece of information. Close to the Russian internal republic of Adygea, which is an enclave in the Krasnodar Territory, there is a small village called Indyuk. The village gets its name from a nearby mountain, which stands at 860 metres above sea level. Geologists believe the mountain to be an underwater volcano that went extinct over one hundred million years ago.

An Indian community
It is widely believed that the mountain was named Indyuk by a tribe that migrated over a thousand years ago to Adygea from what was then the frontier of India.

People of Adygea in traditional dress. Source: Lori/Legion-Media

“Scientific studies have shown that a percentage of Adygean people are genetically related to northwestern Indians,” says Ivan Griko, a historian based in Moscow. “These people probably moved to the areas around the modern Krasnodar territory and named the mountain after the Hindu Kush range, which is now on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.”

Griko adds that the name Hindu Kush originally meant “mountains of India,” and not “Hindu killer” as Persian scholars believe. “The beautiful mountain which provides some of the most stunning views in the Caucasus was probably of some initial spiritual significance for the Indian people who migrated to Adygea.”

The word Indyuk also means turkey in Russian. Coincidentally, the Russian word for the bird was adopted from the Turkish language. The Turks called India ‘Hindistan,’ meaning the land of the turkey!

When a Russian doctor tried to crack the mystery of the abode of Lord Shiva
“Hindu Kush was probably shortened and Russianized and that is most likely how the mountain got its present name,” Griko adds.

Vedic beliefs and yoga
It’s also likely that the immigrants from India brought a Vedic practice that has yoga-like exercises and mediation that is called Uork Khabze. This practise predates the arrival of Islam in the Caucasus.

Uork Khabze, which literally means “path for the chosen” is undergoing a revival in Adygea. It was taught to those who demonstrated a potential to be outstanding human beings, although it was largely restricted to the elite. As is the case with yoga, a diet that is in harmony with nature is an integral part of the Adygean system of physical, mental and spiritual well being.

A cursory glance at the brilliant book ‘Adyghe Khabze’ by Kadir I. Natho is enough to know that the Adygean tradition and culture has a lot of similarities with India.

“It’s no coincidence that the Adygeans practise something so close to yoga that it involves both spiritual and mental exerices using meditation,” Chirko says. He adds that Indian influence spread far and wide into the Caucasus, with the existence of a Hindu community in countries like Azerbaijan and Armenia. “The spread of the Abrahamic religions led to the death of Hinduism in these countries. It’s only the Adygeans who managed to preserve many of the traditions.”

While there is no written proof of Indian immigration to the Russian Caucasus, it’s hard to deny the clearly visible links that exist between these places, where manmade borders did not impede the movement of people and ideas.

[ramana]

Thank God that Christianity faith is rising in Russia and Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa is Coming True

How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right

Rise of Putin means the triumph of the followers of St Andreas vs. St Peter.

For almost a 1000 years the tussle was between Roman Catholics against Orthodox.

One of the Crusades sacked Constantinople and weakened it before Ottoman conquest of an outpost.


S.N. Balagangadhara alluded to this in his essays in Sulekha.

[Cosmo_R]

Thank God that Christianity faith is rising in Russia and Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa is Coming True

How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right

??? Can you elaborate on your remark?

[Austin]

Thank God that Christianity faith is rising in Russia and Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa is Coming True

How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right

??? Can you elaborate on your remark?

That is the prophecy of St Seraphim one of the greatest Orthodox Saints , He has prophised the Fall and Rise of Russia and St Peterburg will be central to Christian faith

Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa (1866-1949)
http://orthodoxengland.org.uk/propsera.htm

[Austin]

Thank God that Christianity faith is rising in Russia and Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa is Coming True

How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right

Rise of Putin means the triumph of the followers of St Andreas vs. St Peter.

For almost a 1000 years the tussle was between Roman Catholics against Orthodox.

One of the Crusades sacked Constantinople and weakened it before Ottoman conquest of an outpost.


S.N. Balagangadhara alluded to this in his essays in Sulekha.

This is what Lavrov said few months back , The struggle is between Liberal West ( post-Christian values ) versus Conservative Christian Russia

Russian top diplomat: Moscow denies worship of Western liberal values

More:
http://tass.com/politics/925498

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. The Western values, based on permissiveness and the worship of liberal approaches to life, are in fact post-Christian, and radically contradict Russian traditions, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his annual press conference.

"If we turn to the Western, that is, European, values which have been put before us as a positive example, then we will see that they are not the values that the forefathers of today’s Europeans shared. These are some new values, modern and all-permissive, which may be considered as post-Christian," Lavrov said. "They radically contradict the values that have been passed from generation to generation in our country and that we carefully keep in order to pass to our children and grandchildren."

"When in the middle of a political battle someone demands that we accept these new post-Christian values, including permissiveness and the worship of liberal approaches to private life, I think, in human terms, it is inappropriate, while from a diplomatic point of view, it is a huge mistake. It is an unacceptable overestimation of their influence on international relations," the Russian top diplomat added.

[Neshant]

Liberal West post Christian values appear to have led to the demise of the family structure in the west.

[Bhurishravas]

Liberal West post Christian values appear to have led to the demise of the family structure in the west.

But Russian `family structure`, I would say is in even worse state. With men drinking to death and women looking for stability in foreign husbands. The biggest threat to russia is internal imho.

[Austin]

Rajnath meets Russian Intel chief: ‘Unfriendly forces’ trying to disrupt ties, say India, Russia teams

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... s-4584488/

UNION HOME Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met Russian intelligence agency Federal Security Service’s (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov, and the two sides acknowledged that some “unfriendly forces” or “unfriendly actors” may be trying to create hindrances in the bilateral relationship. Such adverse campaigns, the two sides agreed, are, however, incapable of affecting the deep understanding between New Delhi and Moscow, bolstered by regular dialogues and mutual cooperation, according to a statement.

Without naming Pakistan during the 45-minute meeting, Singh highlighted sponsoring of terrorism from across the border. He said this is a threat not only to India but to the international community as a whole. The minister also reiterated India’s policy of zero-tolerance for terrorism. The Russian delegation extended an invitation to Singh to participate in the 16th international meeting of the Heads of Special Services, Security Agencies and Law Enforcement Organisations in Russia later this year, which the Home Minister accepted.

Singh’s scheduled visit was postponed last year due to the unrest in Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani. The Home Minister said that inter-agency cooperation between the two countries should cover bilateral, regional and international issues. He emphasised that bilateral cooperation should include the areas of military and technical cooperation, energy sector, economic security and disaster management.

Singh told the visiting delegation that he will visit Russian facilities such as the EMERCOM headquarters to explore areas of technical cooperation between the two countries during his visit. The Russian team included representatives from FSB’s Departments of Constitution Protection and Counter-Terrorism, Intelligence Analysis and International Liaison and Scientific and Technical. The Indian side included Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and senior officers from the Home External Affairs ministries.

[Austin]

FSB chief that is equivalent to IB of Russia meeting HM who heads IB is significant , Seems IB & FSB have information of some unfriendly country trying to create schism between the two and its rare but very significant that they have openly acknowledge this.

Hopefully IB is upto the task and will unravel these hostile design from hostile countries.....Wished they named the country though

[Austin]

Ramana , Atleast the communist party head agrees with your assesment on why the West hates Russia

Zyuganov told why the West hates Russia

https://ria.ru/world/20170325/1490795491.html

CHRISTMAS (Moscow region), March 25 - RIA Novosti. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov saw the origins of Europe's hatred of Russia in the split of Christianity in the 11th century.

"In Europe, hatred for Russia has existed for centuries, and its ideological roots must be sought in the split of Christianity into the Catholic and Orthodox churches," Zyuganov said at a Communist Party plenum dedicated to the fight against anti-Sovietism and Russophobia.

[Bhurishravas]

^^
There are actually lot of reasons.
Initially it was the orthodox/catholic divide.
Thereafter, the russian revolution`s wiping out of the elite and royalty causing friction with their counterparts in the west.
The slavic-germanic divide as well.

But not all of it has been continuous hatred. Russians have been engaging with Europeans at different points of time too.
Like during the napoleonic wars. And again during the second world war.
The Berlin Congress to divide the balkans etc.

[Neshant]

I don't think it is the split of Christianity so much as Russian culture which is a mix of middle eastern & asiatic.
The Euros are trying to get rid of anything not from western/northern europe.
Needless to say, Jews which are a link to the middle east have been much hated throughout history in western europe.
Read about how Jews of Germany were rounded up & burnt in large pits being accused of causing "The Black Death" (the plague) in 1350 AD.
Its an evil continent!

II. The Cremation of Strasbourg Jewry St. Valentine's Day, February 14, 1349 - About The Great Plague And The Burning Of The Jews

In the year 1349 there occurred the greatest epidemic that ever happened. Death went from one end of the earth to the other, on that side and this side of the sea, and it was greater among the Saracens than among the Christians. In some lands everyone died so that no one was left. Ships were also found on the sea laden with wares; the crew had all died and no one guided the ship. The Bishop of Marseilles and priests and monks and more than half of all the people there died with them. In other kingdoms and cities so many people perished that it would be horrible to describe. The pope at Avignon stopped all sessions of court, locked himself in a room, allowed no one to approach him and had a fire burning before him all the time. [This last was probably intended as some sort of disinfectant.] And from what this epidemic came, all wise teachers and physicians could only say that it was God's will. And as the plague was now here, so was it in other places, and lasted more than a whole year. This epidemic also came to Strasbourg in the summer of the above mentioned year, and it is estimated that about sixteen thousand people died.

On Saturday - that was St. Valentine's Day-they burnt the Jews on a wooden platform in their cemetery. There were about two thousand people of them. Those who wanted to baptize themselves were spared. [Some say that about a thousand accepted baptism.] Many small children were taken out of the fire and baptized against the will of their fathers and mothers. And everything that was owed to the Jews was cancelled, and the Jews had to surrender all pledges and notes that they had taken for debts. The council, however, took the cash that the Jews possessed and divided it among the working-men proportionately. The money was indeed the thing that killed the Jews. If they had been poor and if the feudal lords had not been in debt to them, they would not have been burnt. After this wealth was divided among the artisans some gave their share to the Cathedral or to the Church on the advice of their confessors.

Thus were the Jews burnt at Strasbourg, and in the same year in all the cities of the Rhine, whether Free Cities or Imperial Cities or cities belonging to the lords. In some towns they burnt the Jews after a trial, in others, without a trial. In some cities the Jews themselves set fire to their houses and cremated themselves.

[Bheeshma]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... e-10098362

The cruise missile is powered by a “scramjet” - an air-breathing jet engine that can reach incredible speeds.

A swarm attack involving a dozen missiles against the world’s most modern warships would be devastating, experts believe.

The Zircon missile is believed to have a range of up to 500 miles and can be fitted with a series of warheads from high explosive to nuclear.

well I hope Brahmos aerospace does not do screw drivergiri and pass this off a s Brahmos-II.

[A_Gupta]

Anti-corruption protests in Russia:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ru ... 044ae45394

[Austin]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... e-10098362

The cruise missile is powered by a “scramjet” - an air-breathing jet engine that can reach incredible speeds.

A swarm attack involving a dozen missiles against the world’s most modern warships would be devastating, experts believe.

The Zircon missile is believed to have a range of up to 500 miles and can be fitted with a series of warheads from high explosive to nuclear.

well I hope Brahmos aerospace does not do screw drivergiri and pass this off a s Brahmos-II.

Looks like facts and fictions mixed together to make menu look good.

We are 10 years away having any thing scramjet flying

[Bheeshma]

Who is we?? Russia may be ahead of us and need not share any information.

[Austin]

Who is we?? Russia may be ahead of us and need not share any information.

I dont think so , when it comes to scramjet the world that includes the chinese and US are almost at same level give an take 3 years at best. we are still a decade away from any operationally deployed system from any country.

Its possible that India/Russia might have a Ramjet engine that pushes the missile limit to Mach 4.5 close to hypersonic speed and that is what Brahmos corp has said as interim stage in next 5 years.

The problem is that of materials than scramjet itself

[Austin]

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/zirc ... 15296.html

WHEN WILL INDIA HAVE ITS OWN HYPERSONIC MISSILE

Russia may have taken the lead in developing a hypersonic missile, but India is not far behind. India is developing a second generation BrahMos-II missile is collaboration with Russia. The missile will use the same scramjet technology that Zircon has.
The BrahMos-II is expected to have a range of 600 km. The missile is expected to be ready for testing by 2020.

[Philip]

The EU came into being tx to the "Treaty of Rome",whose 60th anniv. just took place.No coincidence that it was signed in Rome,where the Vatican city-state dominates not just Rome,Italy but most of Europe which is Catholic. The Vatican/ Catholic Church has been inimical to the Orthodox Church for over 1000 yrs! There has been huge competition in securing the holy Christian sites in Jerusalem,why the renovations of the sepulchre of Christ,in a precarious condition,and under multi-faith administration ,was delayed for so long.It has just been completed and opened to pilgrims.

The Great Schism between the RC church and the Orthodox church as it came to be known ,dates from this incident details below:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/histor ... chism.html

1054 The East-West Schism
Long-standing differences between Western and Eastern Christians finally caused a definitive break, and Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox still remain separate.
George T. Dennis
1054 The East-West Schism

On Saturday, July 16, 1054, as afternoon prayers were about to begin, Cardinal Humbert, legate of Pope Leo IX, strode into the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, right up to the main altar, and placed on it a parchment that declared the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, to be excommunicated. He then marched out of the church, shook its dust from his feet, and left the city. A week later the patriarch solemnly condemned the cardinal.

Centuries later, this dramatic incident was thought to mark the beginning of the schism between the Latin and the Greek churches, a division that still separates Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox (Greek, Russian, and other). Today, however, no serious scholar maintains that the schism began in 1054. The process leading to the definitive break was much more complicated, and no single cause or event can be said to have precipitated it.

The formal parting between the Christian West and the Christian East occurred in 1054; to some extent it reflected cultural and geopolitical competition between the Greek-speaking "east Roman" empire, in other words Byzantium, and Latin-speaking western Europe where Roman authority had collapsed in the fifth century, but new centres of power had emerged. Tensions rose in the early 11th century when the Catholic Normans overran Greek-speaking southern Italy and imposed Latin practices on the churches there. The Patriarch of Constantinople retaliated by putting a stop to outposts of Latin-style worship in his home city, and the pope sent a delegation to Constantinople to sort the matter out. The delegation's leader, Cardinal Humbert, excommunicated the Patriarch; the Patriarch promptly did the same to the visitor.

A thaw of sorts took place in Feb 2016,in a most unlikely spot...Cuba! Here after 1000 years,the heads of both churches ,Pope Francis and Patriarch Krill of the Russian Orthodox Church met at Havana airport. However,there are serious differences between the two,especially the supremacy of the Pope,which the Ortho church will never accept. Therein lies the problem,why Russia is being kept out of the EU dominated by nations which are Catholic. Germany,home to the revolt or Reformation from the RC church centuries ago, is also anti-Russian for historic reasons Berlin fell to the Russians remember,and WW2 was first and foremost a victory for Russia which lost more than 20M people,more than all the other allied losses put together fighting against Nazi Germany. The behind the scenes scenes strings with which the Vatican controls a large part of the EU is why EU-Russian relations remain in a neo-Cold War situ.

[Philip]

For those more interested in the sbject,here is a fine piece.
http://www.reformation.org/vatican_agai ... x_chu.html
The Vatican against the Orthodox Church

Intro. Xcpt:

The Vatican against the Orthodox Church
© 1965 by Avro Manhattan
Excerpted from the book: Vatican Imperialism in the 20th Century

GIANTS ACT like giants, hence their undertakings are on a gigantic scale. Years are reckoned by decades, decades by centuries. Geographical areas are made to embrace nations or even continents, while the histories of institutions and of races are seen in perspectives not easily comprehended. Because of this, their actions, being in harmony with their extraordinary magnitude, will escape the notice of individuals unable to size up the vast historical panoramas which, although clearly scrutinizable by retinas of gigantic forms, yet are partly blurred and often wholly invisible to others.

The Catholic Church, the greatest surviving giant in the world, is a colossus with no peer in antiquity, experience and above all, in her determination to dominate the human race. To reach such a goal, she will suffer no rivals, tolerate no competitors, put up with no enemies.

Giants who, like her, were found roaming in the deep valley of history, she fought with bloody claws and a ruthlessness to shame the Attillas, the Genghis Khans and all the other scourgers of civilization. Many she led to their destruction; others she subjugated for good; some were annihilated, but some resisted and escaped all her guiles. More than one survived, and even fought relentless battles that echoed with sanguinary echoes in the corridors of the centuries and that are still being fought as ferociously as in olden times, now, in the very midst of the twentieth century.

Vatican diplomacy is the oldest diplomacy in the world. Most of those it fought were either shrunk to nothing by time or blotted out by history, and to modern ears all its multifarious intrigues would sound as hollow and as unreal as they have become strangely unrelated to the ever-bewildering events of our day.

Yet not all the ancient foes of the Vatican have been reduced to mere landmarks of the past. Some have bridged bygone centuries to the present, and one of them, the most formidable of all, the Orthodox Church, a peer to Catholicism in antiquity, is as much a reality in our time as is the Vatican itself.

[Philip]

With Westinghouse going bankrupt and only a cretin would still think of buying US N-reactors,never built anywhere in the world, the news that KKNPP-2 will go on stream within a few days is a comforting development. Despite intense western chicanery to sabotage the plant and stop further Indo-Russian N-plants agreements, Indian and Russian N-scientists have battled their way through all efforts to scotch this critical need of the country,more N-power.
This leaves only the french with their AREVA tech as competition to the Russians. The GOI should fast-track the remaining N-plant deals with either of the two.The French are supposed to be trying to wriggle out of the N-Liability clauses which the Russians have accepted. If that is indeed the case then the Russians should be given more plants to build .

https://in.rbth.com/economics/2017/03/3 ... ays_730897

Kudankulam unit 2 likely to start commercial operations in a few days
30 March 2017 ALESSANDRO BELLI
The functioning of the second unit will go a long way in meeting southern India’s power demand, which goes up in the summer months, as an increasing number of homes and commerical establishments use air conditioning.

Vested political interests are behind the anti-Kudankulam protests - Expert
Russia, India ready to sign deal for construction of KNPP third stage
‘Unprecedented’ safety levels at Kudankulam NPP: Angelov
TAGS
KUDANKULAM, INDO-RUSSIAN COOPERATION, NUCLEAR

The KNPP will be a major source of power for South India. Source: Press Photo
The second unit of the Russian-built Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) has reached its full capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) and is about to start commercial operations, a highly-placed Indian source told RIR.

“Unit 2 of Kudankulam has been synchronized with the grid after the successful completion of the scheduled tests,” the source said on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the press. “The authorities are almost ready to start the commercial operation of the second unit, which is expected in the next few days.”

The functioning of the second unit will go a long way in meeting southern India’s power demand, which goes up in the summer months, as an increasing number of homes and commerical establishments use air conditioning.

Russia helped secure India’s development with nuke energy
“After the synchronization of 1,000-MW second unit, the installed nuclear power generation capacity in India has reached almost 6,780 MW,” the source added.

The Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia constructed the KNPP, which is now being operated in Tamil Nadu by The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).

Along with two more units at KNPP, Roastom is looking for a site in the state of Andhra Pradesh to construct six nuclear power units with a capacity of 1,500 MW each.

In December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the ‘Strategic Vision’ document, which envisages the construction of at least 12 more Russian-designed nuclear power units in India.

[Bhurishravas]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1323792/russi ... waziristan

Russian military delegation visits North, South Waziristan

Very interesting. Now why would the Russians visit Waziristan?! Visiting Waziristan helps them fight the Afghan drug menace?!

[ramana]

Philip, Even AREVA is beleaguered.

[Philip]

X-posted from the EU pos.news td.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... r-rejected

Russia’s 1989 plea for a new world order was rejected, and so Putinism was born
Richard Sakwa
As the cold war ended, Mikhail Gorbachev wanted a new political community, with Russia as an equal partner. The west refused to countenance it
George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev and John Major at a 1991 G7 summit

George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev and John Major at a 1991 G7 summit. Gorbachev believed ‘the end of the cold war represented a moment when Moscow could work with the western powers to create a new political community as equal founding members’. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty
Friday 31 March 2017
Long before Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, the stage was set for Russia’s current confrontation with the west by the failure to achieve a transformed and inclusive peace order after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The arts thrive in Putin’s Russia – though they play a complex game of censorship
Natalia Antonova
Read more
Two incompatible narratives came into conflict after the Eastern Bloc began to crumble in 1989. For the west, nothing needed to change. The Atlantic community had effectively won the cold war, demonstrating the superiority of the western order, and thus all that was required was for Russia to join the expanded western community. The door was indeed opened, but the terms were not right. Boris Yeltsin made this clear, in an incoherent and contradictory manner. Putin ultimately made the same point, rather more forcefully. The west invited Russia to join an expanded Atlantic community, but Russia sought to join a transformed west and a reconfigured Europe, goals that remain active to this day.

For Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, the end of the cold war represented a moment when Moscow could work with the western powers to create a new political community as equal founding members. The historical west, with Nato and the European Union at its core, would, in the Russian idea, become a greater west, with Russia a founding member of a new political community. This was accompanied by various Gaullist ideas to establish some sort of pan-continental greater Europe, stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok.

But the Atlantic powers, fearing that Russia was trying to drive a wedge between its two wings in Europe and America, rejected these ideas. In practice, Russian and western views were not so far apart. What was required was some sort of reconciliatory framework, and it is this intangible but essential ingredient that has been missing in the post-cold war years.

Instead, the end of the cold war reinforced one side at the expense of the other, and without a transformation of world order. This means that in structural terms the cold war never really ended. Russia could have become part of the winning constellation, as Germany and Japan did after 1945, but that would have required some sort of admission of defeat, and that is something that no Russian leader, certainly not Yeltsin nor Putin, were ready to concede. Instead, the institutions and ideas triumphant at the end of the cold war enlarged, driving Russia into a strategic impasse.

A difference of intellectual emphasis became a political division, and the gulf between expansion and transformation defines the confrontation today. The existing order was simply enlarged, and thereby radicalised, rather than transformed. Instead of transcending the logic of conflict in Europe and in global affairs, it was perpetuated in new forms. In the end, Russia reacted by adopting a policy of resistance to what was considered a liberal political order that asserted its values not as an autonomous good, but as part of the enlarging power system itself.

Without the Soviet Union to act as a constraining force, the world order established after 1989 turned out to be effectively unipolar, with all of the dangers that attend such a situation. Neither Russia nor China is in a position, nor do they desire, to balance against the dominance of the American-led power system. What they do want is a more pluralist international order, rather than a single dominant power system. They wish to see the institutions of international society, notably the UN, the WTO and international financial institutions, work autonomously and impartially. Russian politicians repeatedly talk of the need to establish a more multipolar system.

The gap between the proclaimed values of the Atlantic order and its practical manifestations can also be formulated as the gulf between principles and practices (the problem of “double standards”). This provoked Russia’s critique of western practices in defence of its proclaimed principles. Just as Russia has long positioned itself as the defender of the “true Europe” against the alleged degenerate actual version, Russia today claims to be the chief exponent of genuine European values that it asserts the west as a whole has lost. Naturally, this presumptuous claim is rejected by the west. But for Russia, the assertion of some sort of distinctive values is broader than a return to obscurantist conservatism and part of the larger reassertion of cultural and civilisational pluralism and diversity. The values challenge is also a challenge to the power system established at the end of the cold war.

Russia is the house that Vladimir Putin built – and he’ll never abandon it
Dmitri Trenin

The attempt to change not just the balance of power between the hegemonic ambitions of different world orders, but to change the nature of hegemony itself was not achieved. Instead, Russia was subjected to various forms of “soft containment”, which has hardened over time. The crisis over Ukraine in 2014 was a symptom and not the cause of the breakdown in European security.

But the larger process of post-cold war adjustment and the emergence of an anti-hegemonic alignment of Russia, China and some other powers can hardly be called a new cold war. The original cold war was a regional confrontation with global implications, while the present seismic shift is a global process with regional implications. The anti-hegemonic powers now amplify Russia’s original demand at the end of the cold war in 1989: for a transformation of global politics based on a pan-continental peace order in Europe and a more pluralistic (and just) international system.

The big Q is where does India stand in this alignment? We too have wanted anew more multi-polar world order with India in an expanded UNSC ,plus MSG supplier membership,etc. China is the great enemy of India,which is why we're hedging our bets with a closer relationship with the US>

[Philip]

What ails AREVA? Aren't they going to build ne wN-plants in Britain financed by the Chinese?

[Philip]

This year marks the Centenary of the Russian (October) Revolution.Russia has undergone in the last 100 years such intense turmoil,a bloody revolution,the Great Patriotic War (WW2) in which it lost well over 20M people,then the Cold War,Perestroika and Collapse of the USSR, plunder by the oilgarchs ,and then came Putin.

Putin stopped the rot and plunder of state wealth with a heavy hand.The oligarchs fled to the west,mainly to the UK,where they with covert suport of western intel agencies they tried to upend Putin through various means including foisting false cases of (alleged) murder (Litvinenko affair),etc. The current witch hunt against Russia and Putin in the US is part of the ongoing conspiracy to prevent by any means a genuine rapproachment with Russia
which never happened after the end of the Cold War. But what do Russians think of Putin and his regime? Here are some insightful interviews.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ians-think

The Putin paradox
'A harsh but just ruler': what do Russians think about Putin?

One hundred years on from the revolution, six Russians give their views on Vladimir Putin and their country’s place in the world today
A flag with the portrait of Russian president Vladimir Putin waves over the crowd during the Vesna (Spring) festival in Moscow commemorating the third anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.

Eva Hartog and others
Tuesday 28 March 2017 13.56 BST Last modified on Thursday 30 March 2017 12.16 BST
This year marks the centenary of the popular uprising that led to the fall of the Romanov dynasty and the establishment of the Bolshevik regime under the slogan: “Peace, Bread and Land.”

One hundred years on, we asked six Russians from across the country about their lives, the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin and Russia’s place in the world.

Aigul Valeyeva, 49, Ufa: ‘He’s in good shape and relatively open’

I was born and came of age in the Soviet Union. At that point our country was a vast union of republics, with different living standards and other factors that the authorities tried to reduce to a single norm. Yes, we “built rockets and a dam across the Yenisei River”, but to buy a sausage you had to stand in line for hours, and we had no choice in our clothes except for size.

When the Soviet Union fell, the entire economy collapsed and the ties between the different republics were broken. Under Putin, these links are being restored and new ones made. There is support for small business, farming, science and manufacturing. Russia has started producing quality military equipment. To be respected in the world, you need to demonstrate strength.

Putin is popular because when he first became president he was young and energetic after a series of old, sick and degenerate leaders. He knows how to communicate, how to make demands. He’s also in good shape and relatively open.

Aigul Valeyeva is a metals researcher at Russian Academy of Sciences

Ilya Antyuhov, 30, Moscow: ‘The political system is inert’

The political system in Russia is so inert that participating in it nowadays is rather boring. In my opinion, you can exert as much influence over the atmosphere inside Russia by voting in elections as you can affect, say, gravity. It’s more effective to surround yourself with people who are prepared to make a step forward and develop new technologies and ways of communication. The political system is just trying to catch up.

I don’t watch television, such passive consumption of content doesn’t suit me, and what they show these days is of dubious quality. The internet is a great alternative, and I think most young Russians get their information online.

Political marches are not for me; I believe freedom and peace of mind are above all personal matters. On the other hand, article 31 of the Russian constitution says that citizens have the right to peaceful and unarmed gatherings. A calming walk outside in the fresh air is always healthy ...

Ilya Antyuhov is a programmer

Alina Batishcheva, 29, Balakovo: ‘There are many myths about Putin’
I think Russia never really lost its greatness, despite going through complicated economic and political times, the aftershocks of which we are still feeling today. Vladimir Putin’s main achievement is that he has turned out to be a somewhat more capable ruler than his predecessors. There are many myths about Putin, which are mostly the product of Russians’ subconscious impulses. Centuries of peasanthood and then communism created an archetype of the relationship between those in power and the “mob”. The average Russian welcomes the idea of a “harsh but just” ruler.

Alina Batischeva has a degree in sociology and was until recently a manager at a coffee shop

Why is Russia still in love with Putin?
Alexander Kulevich, 30, Toksovo, near St Petersburg: ‘Putin is independent’

Compared to the 1990s, Russia is in a much stronger position: it’s not following anyone else’s orders, and its politicians will not be manipulated. Even the sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea have somehow passed us by. By lifting the army and navy from the ruins, Putin is taking his cue from Tsar Alexander III. He is popular because he is independent. Angela Merkel has to consult someone before making a decision but Putin doesn’t need any advisers. I think that’s a good thing.

A different issue is that domestic problems are solved only slowly, but here the blame doesn’t lie with Putin but those who just fill their seats. People themselves are not ardently claiming their rights either. They’re still recovering from their Soviet past and the mayhem of the 90s.

Alexander Kulevich is a snowboard instructor
Galina Khokhlova, 74, Moscow: ‘Russians can only get rich at someone else’s expense’

As Soviet scientists, my husband and I were given a free three-room apartment in central Moscow. We weren’t rich but lived relatively comfortably. Then came perestroika. It was a catastrophe. The west promised friendship but then Nato expanded into the Baltics. For our own national security, we can’t allow that.

Capitalism has brought job insecurity and economic instability, and given power to those who are good at thieving. In Soviet times, whatever the government had left after spending on defence and construction was given to the people. Maybe today’s generation has more opportunities, but back then everyone had the same ones. When some Soviet officials violated that principle, it was frowned upon. Now, there is huge inequality but everyone is indifferent.

My children help me financially so I don’t have the life of an average pensioner. But if pensioners widely support the current system it is because they don’t want any more changes. They want stability, even if life is not very comfortable. State handouts such as free transport play a big role in keeping people happy on a daily basis.

Those who think we can live the way people in Europe do are naive. Russia’s size and climate mean it takes all our effort just to survive. Here you can only get rich at someone else’s expense.

Galina Khoklova is a pensioner, and a former engineer at Russian Academy of Sciences
Alexander Solopin, 26, Yalta, occupied Crimea: ‘Little has changed in the last three years’
Alexander Solopin
I’ve lived here my entire life. When Crimea became part of Russia [in 2014], I expected local governance would become better, smarter, than under Ukraine. I thought that Russia would help develop Crimea’s infrastructure and industries and turn it into a great place for visitors and locals. But little has changed in the past three years. The authorities continue thieving, just as they used to before. There is no control – if this continues we will never achieve success.

Do I think the sanctions are fair? Absolutely not. Ordinary people suffer. Before, we didn’t have enough money to travel abroad. But now we can’t even get a visa. Because the Kerch bridge [connecting Crimea and the Russian mainland] is still unfinished, everything has to come by ferry. That takes time and makes products more expensive, while wages are low. There should be some regulation on prices, but there isn’t at the moment. One wants to hope that all this will end soon and we can start living normal lives.

Nevertheless, we made our choice. Whether right or wrong, it’s what we decided.
Alexander Solopin is a senior bus mechanic

[Austin]

Official Arctic Reserves from Russian Energy Minister from recent Arctic Sumit

Russia’s offshore energy projects in the Arctic
http://tass.com/economy/938067
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Novak-re ... serve.html

Reserves and production

According to the Russian Energy Ministry, Russia’s recoverable oil and gas reserves in the Arctic currently stand at 260 billion tonnes of equivalent fuel, or 60% of Russia’s recoverable hydrocarbon reserves. In 2015 the science doyen of the Oil and Gas Geology and Geophysics Institute under the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Aleksey Kontorovich, estimated Russia’s oil and gas reserves in the Arctic at 100 billion tonnes.

Novak said that Russia intends to increase its oil extraction and exploration on the Arctic shelf if the oil prices on the international market grow.

According to him, the total value of energy resources concentrated in Russia's Arctic region exceeds $30 trillion.

[Bhurishravas]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ign-troops
Russia Backs Afghan Taliban Demand to Withdraw Foreign Troops

Russia said it supports the Taliban’s demand for foreign troops to leave Afghanistan as it criticized agreements that allow U.S. and NATO forces to remain for the long term in the war-torn country.

“Of course it’s justified” for the Taliban to oppose the foreign military presence, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said in an interview in Moscow. “Who’s in favor? Name me one neighboring state that supports it.”

Russia and the U.S. are increasingly at odds over Afghanistan. Officials in Moscow disclosed at the end of last year that they’ve been having contacts with the fundamentalist Islamic movement that ruled the country from 1996 to 2001, when it was overthrown in a U.S.-led invasion to destroy terrorist training camps run by Osama Bin Laden. U.S. generals say Russia may be supplying weapons to the Taliban, which is waging an expanding insurgency against the pro-Western Afghan government. Moscow denies the allegation.

What a fabulous name for an envoy to Afghanistan: Kabulov!

Anyway, Russian support for the Taliban, however minor, is not in India's interests.

Cross posting here.

[Austin]

Interviews gives a good insight into what Russia-US relations were during Obama era and other aspects

Sergey Lavrov: The Interview

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/ser ... ?page=show

[Austin]

Russia Supplies Taliban With... Whatever

[Bhurishravas]

Russia Supplies Taliban With... Whatever

Russia provides diplomatic support till now.
Wonder what was the Russian general`s visit to Pakistani Waziristan was about.

[Austin]

^^ I think it would be great idea that US forces leave Afghanistan and UN forces come into.

At the least US will do great service to its own soldiers who are now guinea pigs for the Talibans , They are there now for 15 years and Taliban still rules most of Tribal areas. All US end up with is carrying body bags of its own soldiers home

US did not do any thing to stop pakistan support the Good Taliban in Afghanistan where supporting these Fanatics were considered National Policy by them , They simply rewarded then billions of dollars every year to Pakistan.

All the cries of Afghan president and Indian Estb fell on deaf years of US and NATO who provided Weapons and $$ to PA in billion and billions

Now US is crying that Russians are talking to taliban , Cant see bigger hiporcracy approach by them

[Bhurishravas]

^^
Agreed. Americans are big hypocrites. In fact they tried every trick in the book to try to engineer a good Taliban and bring it to the table. And now they are crying over Russians trying to do the same.
Shouldnt the same harsh words be reserved for Russia for following the same policies that we reserve for US. Suddenly Taliban has become good. And moatorium on arms sale to Pakistan is lifted. And Russian generals are visiting Waziristan.
Or perhaps Russia can do no wrong.

And US troops in Afghanistan is fine by me as long as they ensure Taliban does not have a free hand to give refuge to hijacked Indian planes.

[Austin]

Replied here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7203&p=2137638#p2137638

[Austin]

Explosion at St. Petersburg metro, several feared dead (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

https://www.rt.com/news/383202-st-peter ... ast-metro/

[IndraD]

10 dead and more than 40 injured in subway blast at St Petersburg.
Noteworthy that Putin is from St Peters only!
Russia doesn;t pussyfoot around, expect St Peters to be avenged 10 fold more.
It was a nail bomb as nit pick.

[IndraD]

Christopher Miller‏Verified account @ChristopherJM 4h4 hours ago
More
As news of St. Petersburg metro explosion breaks, remember Putin is supposed to be meeting Belarusian counterpart Lukashenko there today.

[IndraD]

suspect proving once again terror has no religion