Bharat Rakshak

Paul wrote:Russians look to be showing their deeper secrets to keep India from going off balance in response to their Pakistan reach out.

ShauryaT wrote:

Philip wrote:The sooner we /the GOI realise that the US is a tired player in AfPak. Unless Trump ups the ante there,or strikes a deal with Putin,we're going to be up the creek without a paddle supporting any regime that has Russia against it.

True, at this point for US and Russia Af/Pak is largely a geo-political game. Russian target are the 9 US bases in Afghanistan. Expect pressure from them on Afghanistan to close them down, if need be with cooperation from the local devils. Unless India does not become a land player in this game or have major security equities, expect India to get shafted by both US and Russia.

In a major development, Russia has allowed its military spare parts manufacturers to sell items directly to India. This will improve servicing and repairs of Russian/Soviet-origin equipment.

About 70 per cent of military equipment with the Indian armed forces — the Army, Indian Air Force and the Navy — is from Russia. With Moscow continuing to be the largest supplier of military hardware, this scenario will not change for the next three decades.

Repairs and servicing of key equipment is hampered by lack of ready availability of spares and a rather circuitous route through a single agency in Moscow makes it even more lengthy. The Russian permission will help, among other aspects, in improving the servicing and repair of the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, the Mi-17 helicopters, Navy warships and T-90 tanks.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has conveyed the decision to their Indian counterparts through an official communication. “The communiqué from Russia details which all companies or original equipment manufacturers have been permitted to sell spare parts to India directly without seeking permission for each tranche,” a source in the MoD confirmed. The MoD here has further circulated the list of companies permitted by Moscow to the three services asking them to see and check if any company which deals with India has been left out. The matter has been discussed during the summit meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.

A senior functionary said the Russian manufacturers of military equipment source key parts, such as engines, avionics, weaponry from producers within Russia and sometimes even Ukraine to integrate them on planes or warships or tanks.

All military equipment by the very nature of it needs consumable parts which have ‘run-life’ and need to be changed or overhauled after its specified life. For example, the engine of the Sukhoi-30 needs to be overhauled after 800-900 hours of flying.

The Sukhoi is serviced and maintained by the PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). There are four key suppliers. The Sukhoi has an availability rate of 65 per cent and large parts of it due to delay in spares. The IAF’s operated base repair depots maintain the fleet of Mi-17s while the Navy maintains its own warships at naval dockyards. Sources here said once this is done, HAL, IAF, Navy and the Army can source spares from Russia.

sudeepj wrote:

ShauryaT wrote:True, at this point for US and Russia Af/Pak is largely a geo-political game. Russian target are the 9 US bases in Afghanistan. Expect pressure from them on Afghanistan to close them down, if need be with cooperation from the local devils. Unless India does not become a land player in this game or have major security equities, expect India to get shafted by both US and Russia.

Russia is a regional power, not a 'super power'. There are no core Russian interests in Afghanistan, its only a bargaining chip to secure the European neighborhood: i.e. Crimea and Ukraine. Serves the Euro trash right for sucking on the Americans for security while also imposing endless fines on American companies.

Austin wrote:Russia is a regional power in terms of its conventional military capability and Economy goes.

It is a Global Power in terms of its Nuclear Capability and due to Veto power in UN its ability to infulence the events in the world ,

unless u can project ur power far away from home for sustained periods ..u r not a complete power. China is indeed a regional power as of today...all countries in its neighborhood are kind of scared of it

sudeepj wrote:Syria is pretty close to Russia, about 1000 miles, two days sailing at economical cruising speeds. Its a regional power alright, but not a super power any more.

Austin wrote:Russia definately has core interest in afghanistan be it Narcotics which comes into CIS/Russia and is also transit point to Europe or terrorism that CSTO countries get affected from

http://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/afghanistan-2016/

manjgu wrote:habal..china is not a complete power. Till they can field CBG etc far from home, have guts to send troops into conflict zones etc etc. they are many years away...cant manufacture A to Z ..maybe A to M ... India is hardly a regional power..had it been a regional power Pakis would be in a hole..Bdesh will not hang BSF troops on a pole and carry them..and neither will SL nave arrest indian fishermen...

ShauryaT wrote:Su
Afghanistan is likely to become a geopolitical football again with China, Pakistan, Russia & Iran on one side with Taleban/Ghilzais and maybe some Tajiks and Hazarra with them. OTOH will be the US attempt to keep the current coalition and support of Durranis, using the trappings of power. Pakistan will want to milk both of US and Russia this time. What will be India's play?with the right type of pressure, US presence in Afghanistan is extremely vulnerable with no appetite to stay and fight it out. There is one obvious play for India - if she can muster the will and ability to execute.

devesh wrote:What stands in India's way is the self-imposed nonsense of not crossing LoC. Present govt's decision to go across and strike in Paki occupied territory w/o making a secret of it is a good first step. But needs to be followed up.

Until we take back PoK and establish our own corridor to CA - we'll be a middling power whose interests other countries will simply ignore.

Rogozin to visit India to review FGFA, other defence projects
13 January 2017 Mikhail Nekrasov
Russia and India want to sign a detailed FGFA design agreement in 2017.
Russia, India hope to sign a detailed agreement on the design and development of FGFA in the next few months. Source:Rulexip/wikipedia.org

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin will visit India in February to discuss military-technical cooperation, and in particular, the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) joint project.

Rogozin, who was in Gandhinagar for the Vibrant Gujarat-2017 Summit this week, said defence matters were not discussed during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi is reportedly uneasy over the slow pace of progress in the FGFA project. This large-scale Russian-Indian joint project is being implemented by Russia’s Sukhoi Experimental Design Bureau and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The parties hope to sign a detailed agreement on the design and development of this modern aircraft in the next few months.

To stabilise the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which is key to safeguarding Moscow’s vital interests in Caucasus and Central Asia, Russia has not hesitated to draw China into the ring.When Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Dedov mooted the proposal of aligning his country’s ambitious Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) initiative with the Chinese-funded $46 billion (Dh169.18 billion) China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project recently, Indian security experts wasted no time in connecting the dots to predict an emerging axis between Russia, China and Pakistan.
Moscow’s support for CPEC, considered to be a threat to New Delhi’s geo-strategic ambition in the extended South Asian region, virtually stirred up a hornet’s nest in the Indian establishment, with veteran foreign policy analyst and a leading figure of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Sheshadri Chari, even calling for an all-out national effort to dissuade the Russians from embracing Pakistan. The seed for a robust Russia-Pakistan strategic partnership, in fact, was sowed in the winter of 2014 during Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu’s Pakistan trip — the first by a Russian defence ministry’s political executive in 45 years — on the second leg of a tour that initially took him to Beijing.

Surely, a long-time strategic ally like Russia, having backed India to the hilt in multilateral forums, slowly drifting away from New Delhi’s strategic ambit is a cause for worry, notwithstanding India’s shift towards Washington in an attempt to become the lynchpin of America’s pivot to Asia.

Today, the Russians, notwithstanding the multi-billion dollar defence deal inked during President Vladimir Putin’s participation in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit held in India, are no more hesitant to arm Pakistan with Mi-35 attack helicopters, thus consolidating Islamabad’s ability to confront the growing menace of Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in the tricky terrain of Hindu Kush. Besides, to stabilise the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which is key to safeguarding Moscow’s vital economic and security interests in the Caucasus and Central Asia, the Russian leadership did not even hesitate to draw China into the ring, by way of supplying advanced Sukhoi-35 fighter aircraft to Beijing.

Falijee wrote: Modi-ji will have to walk a fine line so that to ensure that Moscow does not get the "wrong message" vis-a-vis ties with US

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.

Who benefits from causing friction between India and Russia?
17 January 2017 VINAY SHUKLA
Many false stories about Russia-Pakistan cooperation are being spread from Islamabad, with the clear aim of driving a wedge between two old friends. Sometimes one can read the handwriting of Western arms manufacturers.

Where does Pakistan fit in Russia’s South Asia strategy?
India increasingly wary of rising Russia-Pakistan ties

India is described as Russia’s “special privileged strategic partner” in the 2016 Russian Foreign Policy Concept. Source: RIA Novosti
Little over a decade ago a diplomat friend with great pride had underscored the level of political trust that existed between India and Russia in their relationship. This political trust, he said, was the biggest asset in the strategic partnership.

However, the first-ever Russian-Pakistani military drill in the territory of India's arch foe has to a great extent rocked this trust, especially in the wake of dastardly predawn attack on the Indian military base in Uri close to the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir. Although Russia was the only member of the United Nations Security Council, which had specifically mentioned that the terrorist attack was “committed from the territory of Pakistan,” many in New Delhi have begun to doubt Russia's reliability as a strategic partner.

Not only this, some press and social media comments have gone as far as “demanding” that Moscow not only curb its ties with Pakistan, but also to 'punish' it by refusing to sell Russian arms.

This chorus grew even louder with the Pakistani media reports about Moscow allegedly seeking to join China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Pakistani media reported about Islamabad's consent to allow use of Gwadar port by Russia as part of Moscow's centuries old quest for warm water ports. Interestingly, these kinds of stories are mostly spread from Islamabad, with the clear aim of driving a wedge between two old friends. Sometimes one can read the handwriting of Western arms manufacturers, who are Russia’s competitors.

Where does Pakistan fit in Russia’s South Asia strategy
Fortunately, the Government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi operates in the domain of Realpolitik. Modi is worthy of the leadership of a nation aspiring for the role of a global power.

It is easier to lose old friends than to gain new ones. Multitasking or acting on the multiple planes in the foreign policy is the virtue of the leadership of a great power, with the sole aim of guarding national interests and to ensure peace for the economic development.

Apropos the first ever Russia-Pakistan military drills, in their bilateral interaction on combating terrorism and post-U.S. withdrawal dispensation in Afghanistan, New Delhi and Moscow in their bilateral consultations have more than once agreed that Islamabad has a “role.” Due to security concerns about several million ethnic Russians left behind in Central Asian independent nations after the Soviet collapse, Moscow is looking for options, and engagement with Islamabad is being seen as one such option.

It is noteworthy that throughout the Afghan War, Soviet intelligence maintained direct contacts with Pakistan's ISI, although its role in the Soviet casualties is no more a secret.

Information gap
The December 2016 meeting of Russia, China and Pakistan in Moscow on Afghanistan, and Russia's reported engagements with Taliban, should be seen from this perspective only and not as an act hostile to India.

The misinterpretation of facts, and a lack of understanding about Moscow's real intentions are causing an information gap. The Indian press is heavily dependent on the Western spoon-feeding and Pakistani propaganda.

What the Russian media writes on the issue is totally absent in the Indian discourse on Russia-Pakistan bonhomie. Sometimes, gross lack of general knowledge results in equally wrong inferences. For example, recently a respected Indian daily in its Russia bashing described the leftist web portal Pravda.ru as the official government mouthpiece, without realising that the newspaper with such powers ceased to exist with the fall of Soviet Union a quarter century ago.

Pakistan may not be able to acquire Russian weapons
Moscow’s viewpoint and the China factor
Judging by the Russian language media, Moscow was prompted to take a pro-active policy vis-a-vis Pakistan due to, what local media called “China's mischievous activities” in Russia's underbelly in Central Asia.

“Creation of a political alliance between Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan under Beijing's patronage has caused grave concern in Moscow, following the trilateral meeting of Army Chief of Pakistan General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Joint Staff of People’s Liberation army (PLA), General Fang Fenghui with their Tajik host Lt.-Gen Sherali Mirzo in Dushanbe in early March,” pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia had reported in March 2016, noting that after this meeting Chief of Joint Staff of PLA, General Fang rushed to Kabul on March 5 to negotiate details for a regional security treaty between China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Izvestia on March 16, 2016 reported about Russia's Afghanistan Envoy Zamir Kabulov strongly raising this issue with his Chinese counterpart Deng Xijun at their Moscow meeting.

According to Andrei Serenko, an expert of Moscow-based Centre for Modern Afghan Studies, this was a nasty thing for Russia as Beijing was creating a regional security system without Moscow. So we can clearly see that Russia's actions in the region are guided by its vital national interests and are not aimed at undermining its multifaceted ties with India.

In this context the Kremlin's latest Foreign Policy Doctrine signed by President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 1, 2016 acquires a special significance, since it clearly defines India as Russia's “special privileged strategic partner, relations with which are based on historical friendship and deep trust.”

EW DELHI (Sputnik) — India considers Russia as its "abiding" friend and strategic partner amid deepening of the cooperation between the two states, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday."Russia is an abiding friend. [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and I have held long conversations on the challenges that confront the world today. Our trusted and strategic partnership, especially in the field of defense has deepened," Modi said at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Raisina Dialogue forum in New Delhi. He added that the bilateral cooperation in the spheres of energy and trade, as well as in the areas of science and technologies was very successful. Russia and India have enjoyed mutually beneficial strategic relations, especially in the field of energy and defense and military cooperation, since the 1960s. Besides, New Delhi and Moscow are developing partnership within the framework of numerous international organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS group of developing economies. The Raisina Dialogue is an international conference established in India in 2016. The event gather together experts in geopolitics and geoeconomics from different countries to discuss issues, such as India's relations with its neighbors, as well as with other countries in the world.

Falijee wrote:………………….{Above Snipped}……………………..

Paki- Pasand Writer Massages Paki Ego About CPEC :

AND NOW THE "GOOD SIDE" OF THE CPEC DEBATE !

CPEC And The 21st Century Convergence Of Civilizations
By Andrew Korybko
……………………………………{Rest Snipped}………………………..

However, due to India’s jealous jingoism, Moscow can’t openly declare its eagerness to utilize CPEC, hence why it must resort to a curious diplomatic game of denying any official interest or investment in the project, but at the same time remaining silent about the likelihood of private Russian companies using this apolitical infrastructure network. There’s of course no way that Moscow could or ever would prohibit its private citizens and business entities from transporting their goods across CPEC, so India’s obsessive efforts to prevent Russia from using it will inevitably be in vain. Nevertheless, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs must still play along with India and officially deny that Moscow is involved in CPEC, which is technically the truth because the government itself has no part in it, though the same obviously can’t be said for its private citizens once the project is fully operational and potentially linked to Siberia by means of the Altai-Xinjiang Corridor.

Barring a suicidal “surgical strike” campaign by India or an unthinkable “limited intervention” aimed at cutting CPEC in half through Gilgit-Baltistan (both of which might frighteningly seem attractive to the pro-American Hindutva extremists currently running New Delhi at the moment), the US and India will resort to operating through proxies in order to achieve their grand strategic objective of sabotaging this project.

ranjan.rao wrote:^^ rudradev, The problem is we can't do much as of now, our fangs are russian(Su 30, VikA, T90, Chakra), US is not reliable. Even if we want to change orbit, till these things are there with us there is little we can do other than hoping that russia doesnt get outright hostile and puts his weight behind CPEC and bakis openly..may be hedge our bets with MII(Made in India) and finding new alliances, but when it comes to backing their allies no one comes close to russia, usa has long way to go in that aspect

Is Russia’s “Deep State” Divided Over India? ……………………………

The Indophiles aren’t the only South Asia-related faction in the Kremlin corridors, and their once-powerful influence has actually been on the decline over the past couple of years when compared to their newly ascendant rivals, the Islamophiles. This group of foreign policy experts believes that Russia must pivot towards Pakistan in order to gain access to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which could eventually reach all the way up to central Siberia and thus connect Russia’s geographic center with the global nexus of 21st-century trade in the Indian Ocean, and potentially even link this body of water with the equally strategic Arctic Ocean one day. More relevant to present-day imperatives, however, the Islamophiles envision that the formation of a solid Russian-Pakistani Strategic Partnership could also be a tremendous boost to Moscow’s efforts for bringing peace to Afghanistan. Just like how Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin is the leader of the Indophiles, Zamir Kabulov, the former Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan and current Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan & Pakistan and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Asia and Middle East Department is the leader of the Islamophiles.

This faction gained prominence over the years as Russia sought to contain the chaos that the US created in Afghanistan and prevent it from spilling over into Central Asia. With Kabulov at the helm, they proposed that Russia and Pakistan must partner with one another in order to most efficiently bring this about, assessing that both countries are absolutely indispensable to this process and that no lasting accord could ever be achieved without their sincere and dedicated efforts being behind it.

Because of their adaptability in the face of India’s game-changing geostrategic pivot towards the US and their forward-thinking policy planning, the Islamophiles are distinctly at the head of Russia’s “deep state” South Asian strategy at the moment, despite the loud complaints that this elicits from the Indophiles.

ranjan.rao wrote:^^ rudradev, The problem is we can't do much as of now, our fangs are russian(Su 30, VikA, T90, Chakra), US is not reliable. Even if we want to change orbit, till these things are there with us there is little we can do other than hoping that russia doesnt get outright hostile and puts his weight behind CPEC and bakis openly..may be hedge our bets with MII(Made in India) and finding new alliances, but when it comes to backing their allies no one comes close to russia, usa has long way to go in that aspect

MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Russia expects India and Pakistan to complete the formal process of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in June 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the opening of SCO member states’ political consultations.

"According to its Charter, the SCO is open for new members that meet the criteria mentioned in our legal documents," he said. "We expect the process of providing full membership to India and Pakistan to be completed at the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting scheduled to be held in Astana next June."

"It is without a doubt a historical step that will elevate the political and economic profile of the SCO and significantly strengthen its security capabilities," Lavrov added.

The Russian top diplomat also said that against the background of the difficult international situation, the SCO member states had been stable. "We have been successfully combating external threats," Lavrov went on to say. "This is a result of well-coordinated and active work of the member states." However, according to the Russian top diplomat, there is a need to continue developing cooperation between SCO countries.

Neshant wrote:Somehow i doubt the theory.

Pakistan has no money to buy Russia's exports.

Russia wants a trade corridor through Pakistan to WHERE ?

Its about as crazy as the idea of building a gas pipeline across unstable Afghanistan.

The Russian top diplomat also said that against the background of the difficult international situation, the SCO member states had been stable. "We have been successfully combating external threats," Lavrov went on to say. "This is a result of well-coordinated and active work of the member states." However, according to the Russian top diplomat, there is a need to continue developing cooperation between SCO countries.