India-Russia: News & Analysis

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bahdada
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by bahdada »

They crossed the agreed line, a call was made and Russia acknowledged no troops there. What proceeded was a complete slaughter.
But I'm sure Pip will chime in talking about "PAK FA"arce in Syria anytime now to distract.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Mukesh.Kumar »

Deleting reply to a useless post
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

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Deleting reply to a useless post
Rudradev
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Rudradev »

https://www.rferl.org/amp/russia-changi ... ssion=true

Russia Changing The Signposts In Pakistan
February 25, 2018 13:56 GMT
Frud Bezhan

First, a Russian military delegation made a rare visit to Pakistan's lawless tribal areas.

Then Russian-language signposts were erected on roads in the northwestern province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

Now, Moscow has appointed an honorary consul in the city of Peshawar.

These unprecedented moves appear to be part of a significant upturn in ties between Russia and Pakistan, former Cold War foes.

During the Soviet Union's decade-long occupation of Afghanistan from 1979-89, Pakistan helped the United States funnel weapons and fighters to help the mujahedin battling Soviet forces.

Eyebrows were raised in March 2017 when a group of Russian military advisers were given a rare tour of the North Waziristan tribal region, a no-go area for the media and a former hotbed of militancy. That came just months after Russia and Pakistan conducted joint military drills for the first time.

Around that time, new signposts in Russian appeared in North Waziristan. Previously, traffic signs were only in Urdu, the official language, and Pashto, spoken by the majority of Pashtuns in the area.



In early February, new Russian signposts were also erected along a highway near the capital, Islamabad.



Weeks later, Russia appointed Arsala Khan as honorary consul-general in Peshawar at a ceremony on February 20. The provincial governor, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, said it signaled a "new chapter" of renewed diplomatic relations.

Russia's creeping footprint in Pakistan has come amid renewed interest in neighboring Afghanistan.

It has also come at a time when U.S.-Pakistani relations are spiraling downward over Pakistan's reputed support for the Afghan Taliban.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a press conference in Moscow with his Pakistan counterpart Khawaja Muhammad Asif on February 20 that Moscow was "very preoccupied" by the increasing presence of Islamic State (IS) militants in Afghanistan and the threat the group poses to the Central Asian republics and Russia.

Afghan officials have accused Moscow of visiting Taliban training centers in Pakistan and supporting the group.

The United States has suggested that Russia may be providing weapons to the Taliban, which enjoys sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Russia denies that it provides any such support to the Taliban, although it admitted it has had contact with the militant group over safeguarding security and getting the militants to reconcile with Kabul.

Russia also has also offered to host talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and has suggested easing global sanctions against Taliban leaders who cooperate with peace efforts.

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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

Putin throws don the gauntlet to the US/West,says Russia's new strat. weapons are "invulnerable".In a most dramatic speech to the Russian people and the world,the Russian pres. made it very clear that Russia had developed a series of new weapons which simply could not be defended against by the US,which refusd to listen to Russia,but had to "listen to us now!" The array of new weapons will certainly make the world listen to Russia for a long time to come.

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=russi ... e&ie=UTF-8
Vladimir Putin claims Russia has developed nuclear weapons 'invulnerable' to US missile defence
1 MARCH 2018 • 10:41PM
Vladimir Putin said Russia has tested high-tech nuclear weapons invulnerable to US missile defence in a defiant speech before he stands for re-election this month.

In a state-of-the-nation address to top officials, Mr Putin made his most forceful declaration yet of Russia's military might. He said the country was developing a new generation of deadly weapons able to penetrate missile defences, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile with “unlimited range,” an underwater nuclear drone and a “practically invulnerable” hypersonic warhead that travels “like a ball of fire”.

Moscow has also tested its long-awaited Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, which will fly farther and carry more warheads than its predecessors, he said.

“Russia remained a nuclear power, but no one wanted to speak with us. No one wanted to listen to us. Listen to us now,” Mr Putin said to enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Manezh in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 1, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Manezh in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 1, 2018 CREDIT: AP
The speech raised the spectre of a new arms race, as Donald Trump has similarly promised to expand the US arsenal and issued a nuclear arms policy this month aimed at countering Russian modernisation.

Responding to Mr Putin's speech, UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson accused Russia of choosing “a path of escalation and provocation”.
“We are facing intensifying threats to our way of life and this development is another reminder to not let down our guard,” he said.
But a US official told CNN that Russia's nuclear-powered cruise missile tests had ended in crashes

Although he touched on economic problems, the president's nuclear sabre-rattling soon shifted attention to the assertive foreign policy that has been popular with Russians despite Western sanctions.

Mr Putin complained bitterly about the US withdrawal from the anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002 and its development of missile defence installations in Romania and Poland, which Moscow has long said will upend the strategic balance.

Since its warnings about missile defence had not been heeded, Russia had created new arms to ramp up its nuclear deterrent and “annul the strategic advantage” of the West, he said.

Mr Putin repeatedly paused to display videos of missile launches, explosions and flight trajectories. The clunky computer graphics would have been almost comical if not for the many unsettling images of targeted attacks and missiles heading toward North America. One showed warheads raining down on Florida.

Mr Putin speaks to a hall of top officials in the Manezh exhibition centre next to the Kremlin

The sheer bombast of this military muscle-flexing was unprecedented for the Russian president, as was the peek he offered through the veil of secrecy around the country's latest arms. He even announced an online contest to choose a name for an underwater drone able to carry a nuclear warhead, which was shown blowing up a destroyer in a video.

Previously the underwater drone had only been known from a piece of paper caught by a wandering television camera during a defence officials' meeting.

At Putin's speech they're literally showing videos of new ballistic missiles heading toward the United States as he promises to "overcome misile defense"

“The sanctions to constrain Russia's development, including in the military sphere... they didn't work out,” Mr Putin said. “They haven't been been able to contain Russia. They need to realise this… Stop rocking the boat in which we all sit.”

He also vowed that incidents like the death of pilot Roman Filipov, who blew himself up with a grenade after being forced to bail out over enemy territory in Syria last month, “will never happen again,” drawing a standing ovation.

The aggressive military declarations were a departure from the first half of his speech, which focused on social problems and improving people's quality of life.

Journalists watch as Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Manezh in Moscow
Journalists watch as Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Manezh in Moscow CREDIT: AP
The remarks are being seen as his vision for a next term, which he is almost certain to win. Mr Putin has not put forth a campaign platform and been largely absent from the race so far.

Among a raft of ambitious goals, the president promised to cut poverty in half in the next six years, saying that the 20 million Russians below the poverty line was too many. He also called for a 50 per cent increase in GDP per capita by 2025.

He said the top priority should be the well-being of Russians and their families, calling for a “leap forward in the quality of people's lives, the modernisation of technologies, government management”.

“Russia has realised its foreign policy and defence potential, but in terms of people's personal growth we haven't reached our full abilities. We should do this and we will do this,” Mr Putin said to applause from a packed hall in the Manezh centre next to the Kremlin.

“Technological development” and “digital economy” were the latest watchwords from the Russian leader, who has tentatively embraced innovations like blockchain while also cracking down on dissent on the web. He said Russia should be a country “open to the world, to new ideas and initiatives”.

“We should increase the space for freedom in all spheres and strengthen democracy,” said Mr Putin, whose expected victory in the March 18 election is to keep him in power for more than a quarter-century, longer than Joseph Stalin.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been barred from the race due to an embezzlement conviction that the European Court of Human Rights has said was politicised.

The state-of-the-nation address had been repeatedly postponed since December.

As he spoke, the president paused frequently, not just for clapping but also to cough and gulp from a cup on the podium.

When Mr Putin disappeared from public for nearly two weeks last month, his spokesman said he had come down with a “cold,” a rare admission from an administration that has constantly stressed the leader's unfailing robust health.
Vips
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Vips »

A power hungry mad man who is repeating mistake's committed by erstwhile Soviet Union leaders of spending money to develop arms and match US in its influence and power. This while its Real GDP is slipping year on year.

US will have to "listen to us now" sounds pathetic and desperate attention seeking cry.

Only the Chinese will gain from this.
VinodTK
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by VinodTK »

Source The Diplomat: Has Russia Lost Patience With India?
Russian attempts to punish perceived Indian transgressions could have serious impact on their relationship.

First, on February 17, a rebel leader from Balochistan province in Pakistan, who had been residing in exile in Moscow for the last 18 years, switched sides. Dr. Jumma Marri Baloch has long been one of the major leaders of the movement in the western province of Balochistan to free itself from Pakistan. He reportedly designed the flag of the “free Balochistan” separatist movement. In his reconciliation interview with a Russian media outlet, Marri blamed India for hijacking the indigenous Baloch revolt. As the drama unfolded in Moscow, one may wonder whether it was a not so subtle a message to Delhi about Russian ability to embarrass India if such a need arises.
:
The government of India is hard-pressed to cater to Russian interests. The armed forces, particularly the Air Force, have been seeking to diversify their base by procuring Western weaponry. The intelligentsia, though, is tired of expensive imports and is keen on spinning up indigenous development. To add to New Delhi’s woes, Western officials are now also pressuring their Indian counterparts for lucrative armament contracts. The election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency and his push toward selling American products abroad is unlikely to ease this pressure.
:
Much to the surprise and anger of Moscow, the IAF has asked for a classified briefing on the F-35 from Lockheed Martin. If India does not have funds to spare for the Russian planes, how can it possibly muster funds for the F-35? This is the question that is being asked. The Indian pilots, meanwhile, want to know why they should pay for a plane that the Russian air force itself is unwilling to fly.

In order to convince the Indians about the viability of the program, the Russian Defense Ministry ordered 12 planes on February 8. It has also deployed them in Syria to counter the media narrative against the fighters. The advanced planes are not needed in the Syrian conflict, where the Russian air force’s primary role is to bomb insurgents, but Moscow has taken a leaf out of the book of Western players. Both Rafale and Eurofighter have been used in Syria and Libya despite not being needed in the primarily uncontested bombing roles. But IAF has remained distant to the planes, claiming them to be too similar to the Sukhoi 30, which India already has in its arsenal.

Russia has threatened to go ahead with another partner for the fifth-generation fighter aircraft if India is unable to make up its mind on the long-delayed project. The invitation to the Pakistani foreign minister seems to have flown after the leaking of IAF’s desire to have a look at the F-35.
:
In geostrategic terms, an India-Russia split would harden the periphery versus core competition that is taking shape. Trump’s pressure on Pakistan at a time Russia is inviting it in with open arms could also lead to a change in its outlook. While India would be locked out of Central Asia, Russia would also end up becoming even more dependent on China. It is tough to say which state may end up with the worse of the bargain.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

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The air chief has just denied reports about the F-35 interest.That should clear the air .There appear to be vested interests determined to wreck the decades of positive Indo-Russian defence cooperation with such planted feku news.Intriguingly perfectly timed just before the annual Indo- Russian def./ naval meeting at Goa.Remember the earlier reports about US naval personnel being allowed to jnspect INS Chakra, the leased Ru Akula class SSGN.That was also feku news, but created a storm of controversy.The feku news biz is getting busier by the day.

PS:
Putin is not power hungry.He has been regularly elected by the Ru people as they see him as the man who restored Russia's prestige and mil.power.Russia was shortchanged by the US/NATO after the Cold War, with NATO expanding its footprint eastwards to Russian borders and the US unilaterally withdrawing from strat. arms treaties.Putin has just given the US/ West a demonstration of Russia's mil prowess , developed even under the worst US/Western sanctions imposed after the failure of a covert US/Western plot to oust the UKR's pro- Russian leader .This was by using mercenary fascist forces ( not to mention the US Bidens, father and son) who created the mayhem at the Maidan, snipers killing policemen who returned fire, that led to civil mayhem, a coup,regime change and civil war in the UKR which consequently lost the Crimea! He has demonstrated to the West,US in particular, that despite sanctions he can run Russia , stabilising the country and ability to develop game changing milware.In the process helping Assad win the war in Syria too.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Parasu »

Russia invited Pak foreign minister and told him that they were going to build up Pakistan`s anti terror capability.
A baloch leader living in Moscow for last 18 years switches sides.

Whats feku about it? Unless you want to bury your head in sand. Russia is sending India a message. Delhi should tell Moscow to F off.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Parasu »

Putin is not power hungry.He has been regularly elected by the Ru people as they see him as the man who restored Russia's prestige and mil.power.
Anyone who changes the constitution to stay in power is power hungry. Xi-Jinping, Erdogan, Hitler or Putin. Your Russia/Putin worship is amazingly devoid of any sense.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

Putin has considered before handing over power but the successor has yet to be found.Medvedev hasn't been inspiring enough.Russia requires, like India a strong hand at the helm who can deal with local crooks and saboteurs to the national interests as well as external threats.This will be in all likelihood Putin's last term.Hd has solidly built up the Russian military esp. its strat. deterrent during two v.tough decades ,from the depths to which it had plummeted during the Yeltsin years. The west have done everything to destabilise him and his country in the current decade.The last being the diastrous regime change in the UKR.It ended up with Russia regaining the Crimea of immense strat. importance in the Black Sea allowing Russia access into the Meditt. where he had brilliantly prevented Assad from being toppled by western mercenary forces and Wahaabi nations and almost completely exterminated ISIS which the Yanquis failed to do because of their duplicity.

It is hilarious advocating telling Russia to" eff off " just because they're talking to the Pakis on Afg., etc. A key advisor to Putin recently explained in an interview to our media, that the threat of Islamic fundoos entering Russia from the south through Central Asia was considered a v.serious threat and why they were engaging with all stakeholders in Afg. to prevent such an event.There has been no major arms system sold to the Pakis.In comparison, not even peanuts when you consider what has been given to India ( BMos, Akula-2sub/s,N-sub tech for our SSBNs, MKIs, FGFA JV, T-90 MBTs,Kilo SSKs,a wide range of helos, naval SSMs, SAMs, warships , etc., even Nirbhay is supposed to be flying with an Ru Saturn engine barrkng the last test. Get real!

There is no blind adulation for Putin , but huge respdct for his single-minded achievements for his nation and its interests.Mr.Modi is attempting to do the very same in India after Snake-Oil-Singh and his decade of decadence akin to Yeltsin, where robber barons looted and scooted....again to the West!
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by panduranghari »

In spite all the bravado and showcasing advanced military technology, Russia(and Putin) are weak because of Magnitsky act.
The Magnitsky Act was passed to punish those suspected of being involved in the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered a $230 million tax fraud scheme in 2008 that implicated high-level Kremlin officials and allies of President Vladimir Putin. The scheme quickly snowballed into one of the biggest corruption scandals of Putin's tenure.

Magnitsky uncovered the scheme on behalf of the investment advisory firm Hermitage Capital, which was at that point the largest investment firm in Russia. Magnitsky was later thrown in jail by the same Interior Ministry officers he testified against during criminal proceedings to punish those involved in the tax scheme, Hermitage founder Bill Browder recalled in 2015.

Magnitsky died in custody after being held for 358 days, and an independent human-rights commission found he had been illegally arrested and beaten. The Kremlin maintains that Magnitsky died of a heart attack.

"Since there was no possibility of getting justice for Sergei inside Russia, I decided to seek justice outside of Russia," Browder wrote. 'That’s when I took his story to Washington."
Then in 2012, Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, which authorizes the president to deny visas to, and freeze the assets of, Russians believed to have been complicit in Magnitsky's death. The list, also known as the Cardin List because it was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, has been expanded several times since then to include more Russians suspected of human-rights abuses and corruption.

"Putin’s top officials were apoplectic," Browder wrote. "All of his key lieutenants had used their jobs to become enormously wealthy, and many had done some very nasty things in the process. In theory, the Cardin List opened the door for these people to be sanctioned in the future. As far as they were concerned, the list changed everything."
Putin either has to stay in power forever or restart the Gulag. He most certainly cannot get his wealth out of Russia.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Parasu »

Just because Putin has been successful does not mean he is not power hungry. These are two different things. According to you Putin is the only person among 140 million roosis who can help roos.
Secondly, it is the direction in which things are going and not past that matters. Russia still has superpower airs with an economy the size of Netherlands and Belgium. Any friendship should be on equal footing.
One FGFA not going their way and they think they can blackmail India with Pakis. That is not how it ought to work. I am all for diplomatic engagement and friendship with Russia but not for prostrating before them.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Vips »

Regarding the despicable act of Russsia trying to blackmail India via the Pakis - If India stops purchasing Russian wares where from will Russia get the money to fund its future weapons program? Is there any country that can replace India?? It may get customers for some items like S 400, but beyond that what? If US and Saudi keep oil prices down and US really wants it can win all the customers that Russia intends to sell its maintenance heavy SU series jets to.I am not even bringing into equation the future Chinese competition that Russia will face for selling arms.

What will Putin do ? Like Stalin kill a few million Russians or like Paki's sell atomic weapons to rogue states?
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

"If India stops buying Ru weapons".The fact is we will be up the proverbial creek both tech and costwise.There have been many reports from serving multi-starred officets who've gone on record about how Russia gives us far more TOT, etc. than the West.Secondly Ru wares are far cheaper why a US thinktank wanted us to abandon the lowest price policy! Look at the Rafale's cost.3 times that of a brand new MIG-35 and almost twice of a superior MKI BMos capable which the Raffy isn't!

We're also perating a 12,000t Akula SSGN for 10 years for just $1B.A single Scorpene non AIP too is costing us around $600M.You can ck the prices of various Ru wares yourself as I have done from MBTs, transport aircraft, etc.Equiv western wares are at least 2-3 times more expensive.Even if you factor in s higher availability of a system, the huge extra capital cost, spares and op costs do not make western wares cheaper in the long run too.To improve availability of Sov/ Ru systems, local service centres with spares,etc. in India are now the norm for all such systems leading to much improved performance and availability.

There are too many Indo-Ru projects on the anvil that are real game changers like hyper- BMos,etc. and any harakiri on our part abandoninv them in favour of zilch from the US/West would be truly catastrophic. One is not advocating putting all our eggs in a Ru made basket, we are getting some v.good systems from the west like transports, ASW LRMP P-8Is, etc., but the bulk of our hardware which is the core of our fighting strength still is Russian.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Vivek K »

We have to move past the 90s in our consideration of the world order and our place in it. Some of us are stuck in that period for diverse reasons.

Several years ago, I had made a post that we needed to replace the entire Mig-21 fleet instead of supporting it with such costly investments - end of life upgrades, buying/acquiring spares that were extremely difficult to come by and losing priceless pilots. The suggestion then was pooh poohed as where would we get 20 billion+ to do that. And right after that, the MMRCA saga started for 125 aircraft initially and was then raised to 200 possible units.

It may be time to take the hit with Russian equipment now and to set relations on even keel and expectations. I am not advocating unfriendly terms but we cannot cave in to blackmail nor does a "friend" blackmail. An Indian industry exists now that can provide support to Russian weapons. The tin cans can be replaced with Arjuns, the MKIS have deep TOTs and Indian industry can step in to support them, the LCAs can replace the Mig-29/27/21. Send the akulas back - they have served their purpose. I bet that the Arihant and the Aridhaman (the original) are in the water and the larger ones are being readied. The recent orders for ships etc need to be re-distributed to local shipyards.

India needs to deal with the world as a confident, powerful entity that cannot be brought to its knees through blackmail. FSU helped India in the past and India reciprocated with geopolitical and purchase support. It is a shame that some of us advocate subjugating India' hard-won sovereignty for a few weapons that we would be better off without.

The Marwaris believe in "cutting loses" at today's level instead of letting them grow bigger by waiting for tomorrow.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

There are 2 factors.Replacing legacy milware preferably with desi replacements (LCAs for MIG-21s was the original intention) and developing cutting edge weaponry anx key components.Let's be honest.Barring rocketry we've made few successful desi products given the enormity of the systems reqd.We can't produce an infantry weapon, the most basic of all while we are manufacturing desi arty now and strat. missiles! The Kaveri saga going on for more than 30 years hasn't produced a single engine that has flown aboard an aircraft or UAV successfully, yet we've developed a cryo engine for the GSLV, a monumental feat!

This then beggars a fundamental Q that the failed programmes were either badly managed or the tech was too demanding not possible to develop at home.If it was the former then accountability is reqd. from those of the DRDO or DPSU responsible for wasting the taxpayers money. It has never happened .Everyone responsible retires happily into the sunset with grat., pension and perhaps "presents" from "wellwishers" too!

If the latter reason , then JVs like BMos need to be created.BMos with Russia a world leader o0f a success, the envy of many incl. our mortal enemies.This way we co-develop cutting edge weaponry at a much faster pace had we tried to, going it alone.Here Russia is again the most willing of nations to do the same with us .
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Post by Bart S »

Russian propaganda outlet RT is now a platform for Paki propaganda as well. Russia-rakshaks will still have their heads stuck in the sand though. :(

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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Rudradev »

Attempting to connect some dots here.

First: As we know, towards the end of 2017 there was more and more publicity given to the Baloch freedom struggle in the US, UK, and possibly other western countries. A huge hoarding on Times Square, NY on New Year's Eve, plus many similar billboards mounted on taxicabs, are the most visible signs of this. These signs are potentially the tip of a diplomatic iceberg whereby India has begun coordinating with the US and UK to encourage Baloch separatism as a means to punish Pakistan.

Second: the US and UK were the prime movers of the FATF agenda to move Pakistan onto its terrorism financing watchlist, further underscoring a souring of relations between the West and Pakistan (a trend that began with Trump's withholding of coalition support funds and threatening to cut off all aid to Islamabad).

Third: in this article http://www.ejinsight.com/20180226-why-a ... -pakistan/ a Chinese commentator in HK says that the PRC has been reaching out directly to Baloch separatist groups to guarantee the security of their investments in Gwadar and along CPEC, while "bypassing Islamabad".


Fourth: A Baloch separatist leader living in Russia has emerged to denounce India's involvement in the Baloch freedom struggle. This appears to be an attempt to embarrass India by publicly linking us to the Baloch movement.
VinodTK wrote:Source The Diplomat: Has Russia Lost Patience With India?
Russian attempts to punish perceived Indian transgressions could have serious impact on their relationship.

...On February 17, a rebel leader from Balochistan province in Pakistan, who had been residing in exile in Moscow for the last 18 years, switched sides. Dr. Jumma Marri Baloch has long been one of the major leaders of the movement in the western province of Balochistan to free itself from Pakistan. He reportedly designed the flag of the “free Balochistan” separatist movement. In his reconciliation interview with a Russian media outlet, Marri blamed India for hijacking the indigenous Baloch revolt. As the drama unfolded in Moscow, one may wonder whether it was a not so subtle a message to Delhi about Russian ability to embarrass India if such a need arises.
:
Fifth: Some sort of rapprochement towards China seems to be on the agenda of the Indian MEA. The note to officials to avoid public appearances with the Dalai Lama on the 60th anniversary of his exile in India is a prominent directive in this regard. India has also reacted tepidly to the crisis in the Maldives and to the renewed Chinese buildup in Doklam.

I am wondering what all of this means.

My sense is that the Baluchistan movement has been recognized by all players: the West, China, and Russia, as potentially a very important strategic locus.

The West had begun to put the wheels in motion to encourage Baloch separatism. At a minimum, this would increase the pressure on Pakistan to do more against (anti-Western) terrorism, and at a maximum, the creation of an independent Baluchistan would provide the West with a key strategic asset while also depriving China of CPEC access to Iran and the Indian ocean. The whole spectrum of outcomes would be favourable to India, so New Delhi got on board.

The Chinese meanwhile recognized that the Baloch freedom struggle must be brought under control for CPEC to succeed (and to deny the West a geopolitical base in a future independent Baluchistan). So, probably with grudging but helpless approval from Islamabad, Beijing moved to engage Baloch separatists on its own terms, using carrots where the Pakis had originally used nothing but sticks. China is maneuvering to bring the key political and military figures of Baloch separatism onto its own side so that they do not stir up trouble for it. The Pakis have no choice but to go along.

India had hoped that the balancer on our side would be Russia. However, it seems clear that the Russians have decided to throw in their lot with the Chinese in this regard. It is very telling that, just weeks after the US-UK-sponsored move to put Pakistan on the FATF watchlist, the Russians have done an equal-equal to India's detriment by trotting out a Baloch leader to denounce India's hand in the separatist struggle. This gives China leverage with the argument that India is also a sponsor of terrorism, and therefore Pakistan should not be "unfairly" singled out for FATF sanctions. It also signals that Russia is solidly behind China's attempts to bring the Baloch freedom movement into the fold of mainstream Pakistani politics, both for its own ends (CPEC) and to assist in maintaining the stability of Pakistan.

Now India finds itself confronted by a near-hostile Russia recruiting itself into the China-Pakistan axis. On the other side, Trump is politically besieged within the US establishment, and cannot be trusted to see beyond his nose or to remember what he said yesterday... so India cannot afford to consider the West a reliable ally (if it ever could).

I believe India has recognized that for the moment, it is confronted by bad options on all sides, and therefore decided to bite the bullet and make concessions to the Chinese.

I hope we will always remember this betrayal by the Russians (for no fault of our own) and do our best to wean ourselves of any legacy dependence on Russian military technology. Moscow is now a Chinese poodle, embroiled in assisting all of China's international adventures from Af-Pak to North Korea. Our sole leverage with Russia: the fact that we are still their largest military customer while China is increasingly developing an independent industrial and technological base for military supplies, is something Moscow has chosen to dismiss contemptuously. We cannot forget this. Even with no ally in the West, we must have the resolve to go it alone, because the Russians are not our friends anymore.
Cosmo_R
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Cosmo_R »

Rudradev wrote:......and do our best to wean ourselves of any legacy dependence on Russian military technology. Moscow is now a Chinese poodle,.
Agree. Russians <> Soviet young pioneer friends. Will sacrifice us to PRC if money is right at first juncture.
krishGo
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by krishGo »

Counter-terrorism take on Russian spy Sergei Skripal poison case
Skripal was found slumped unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon. The woman discovered next to him has been identified as Skripal’s 33-year-old daughter, Yulia. Both remain critically ill and in intensive care after exposure to an “unknown substance”.
Skripal was a military intelligence officer, who was “swapped” in 2010 for Russian spies caught in the US. Russian websites, citing details from his trial, said MI6 recruited him in 1995. He was approached during business trips to Malta and Spain. He eventually divulged the names of dozens of Russian intelligence assets to his British handlers, they said.

Skripal had been living quietly in a semi-detached house in Salisbury. His wife, Liudmila, died of cancer in 2012. Neighbours described him as friendly, sociable and living in full view. He shopped locally, drank in the Railway social club and gambled. Skripal sometimes admitted he had been a colonel in Russian intelligence, but told others he was a retired former planning officer.
Rudradev
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Rudradev »

The fact is, Russia needs Pakistan more than it needs us.

Russia and the US both share the view that the Islamic world (West Asia/North Africa) is a global "swing region" and historically have both competed for influence there. During the Soviet days, the USSR advanced proxies whose ideological moorings were pan-Arab nationalism couched in a postcolonial socialist, rather than Islamic, rubric. Including the Ba'ath parties in Syria and Iraq, Nasser in Egypt, Gaddaffi in Libya etc.

For its part the US advanced monarchist proxies like UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia where the ruling classes sought ideological legitimacy in hardcore Sunni Islamism. Pakistan and Turkey were the poster boys of the "modern Islamic nation-state" paradigm, and described in Western circles as basically pro-democratic societies where the military had to be given some leeway to suppress religious revanchism, and hence some authoritarian tendencies had to be tolerated. The Shah of Iran, while he lasted, was the major American proxy in the Shia world, but that ended with the 1979 revolution.

The two sides clashed most visibly in Afghanistan, with the US creation of a (Sunni) Islamist front to fight against the Soviets and Afghan government. This, as we know, contributed to the *overt* Islamization of Pakistan and to 9/11. The US wars in Iraq and Libya put paid to the two erstwhile Soviet proxies, Saddam and Gaddafi, but further allowed virulent Sunni Islamist groups like ISIS to run riot across West Asia and North Africa.

The situation today is different. The Russians are no longer in the business of exporting Socialism, so their proxies are now an ideological mixture of old Ba'athist Syria, reconstructed Shia-dominated Iraq, and Islamist Shia Iran. The US still backs the GCC powers who are Sunni Islamists of one shade or another. The battlegrounds are Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan in West/Central Asia; and Somalia and various Maghreb states in North Africa.

The swing states in today's Islamic world, who are too powerful to be battlegrounds, strong enough to play roles beyond their own borders, but not fully committed to either side, are: Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan.

Putin wants to make a clean sweep of the Islamic world by bringing Turkey and Pakistan onto his side along with Iran, Iraq, and Syria. With Pakistan and Iran in his camp he calculates he will have Afghanistan as well. In geopolitical terms this would be a great accomplishment for Putin. It means Russia will have effectively sealed off access to the Central Asian heartland by building a solid wall of proxies, with the US sphere of influence pushed far southward (Washington having only the peripheral GCC states and Israel in its camp). It means Russia will have secured access for itself to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, and potentially even the Indian Ocean via Gwadar.

Not only will Russia exert primary influence over all these territories, in a continuous belt from AfPak to Turkey, but it will also have displaced US CENTCOM as the primary guarantor of security for China's planned OBOR system that will traverse them. This will make Russia valuable to China for other, more survivable reasons than supplying raw materials and military equipment... giving China a freer hand to defy Washington on its eastern and southeastern seaboard.

Where does India fit into this geopolitical game plan of the Russians and Chinese? Nowhere. Like the GCC (Arabian Peninsular) states, we are primarily littoral: further away from the center of gravity of the continental heartland than Afghanistan or Pakistan. The Chinese, Pakistanis, and a future China/Pak-dominated Afghanistan can seal us off from the heartland at will, especially with Russia on their side, just as the Iran-Turkey belt could seal off the GCC from the heartland. If you see the Russians taking a more and more pro-Pakistan line on Kashmir, you will know why.

I predict we will see the end of BRICS sooner than anyone can expect. There is literally nothing we can offer the Russia-China bloc other than the promise that we will not completely become an American poodle (and hence, a front-line state with any future conflict to be fought on our own soil). That is as much to our advantage as to theirs, so they are confident we won't do it and do not need to be incentivized.

Putin is moving very fast to make all of this happen. His machinations with the Turks in Afrin, with the Pakistanis, and with various European countries (most recently France and Italy) show that he is taking full advantage of the strategically clueless and diplomatically inept Donald Trump interregnum in the USA. Trump sarkar has only accelerated the process of Russia-China axis formation by issuing a National Defence Strategy that names BOTH these powers as America's primary enemies.

So that's where we are in the New Cold War. Faced with a Russia that is rapidly turning hostile for its own reasons, and an America that is unimaginably stupid in addition to its customary high-handed condescension, perhaps the least worst option is to return to that old Nehruvian toadstool of Non-Alignment :mrgreen:
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by chanakyaa »

RD saar, good post as always. Not fully convinced about India in a position to get completely sealed off, but I'll post a counter-argument later (for the sake of healthy debate). On a somewhat related topic, slight OT, but on your argument on using countries to seal off geographical access, we are seeing "sealing off" attempt of northern boundaries of Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Russians have deep survival interest in making sure that Syria, Northern Iraq, and Iran completely unstable so that no one can think of building oil/gas pipeline network to Europe. Compare this to Russia's own oil/gas network to Europe which serves 30-35% of EU's energy needs. Russia's own network is stable and reliable. Syria, Iraq, Iran, and entire GCC cabal have enough energy to supply to EU for centuries and make Russian energy completely irrelevant. And, if Russians can't sell energy to EU, it is over for Russia. Military industry complex will collapse next day. From Russian perspective, middle yeast energy can travel South, but not North. And, that is where uncle is struggling to make that corridor viable to establish future energy network to EU (and its presence in oil rich northeast Syria). It is not going to be easy. For Russia, it is the question of survival. And, that is the whole reason why it is aggressively in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. From Indian perspective, energy is just one piece of the puzzle but it is an important piece. I believe that TAPI and IPI has something to do with Russian presence in "P".

Image
Cain Marko
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Cain Marko »

Rudradev wrote: I hope we will always remember this betrayal by the Russians (for no fault of our own) and do our best to wean ourselves of any legacy dependence on Russian military technology. Moscow is now a Chinese poodle, embroiled in assisting all of China's international adventures from Af-Pak to North Korea. Our sole leverage with Russia: the fact that we are still their largest military customer while China is increasingly developing an independent industrial and technological base for military supplies, is something Moscow has chosen to dismiss contemptuously. We cannot forget this. Even with no ally in the West, we must have the resolve to go it alone, because the Russians are not our friends anymore.
This might be why India is so keen to move towards the French, expensive as they are. Note the noises coming from this direction...
Admirals visiting French nuke boats
Additional Rafale deal
Kaveri snecma engines.

If the French connection can give India even a semblance of strategic Independence - ssns and fighter engines it will be worth paying billions in French premium.
Austin
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Austin »

chanakyaa wrote:Russia's own oil/gas network to Europe which serves 30-35% of EU's energy needs. Russia's own network is stable and reliable
That is the reason Merkel Germany supports Nord Stream-2 inspite of extereme vocal opposition from US and Baltic state , The cost of LNG is 3 times higher than Piped Gas.
V_Raman
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by V_Raman »

Great analysis Rudradev! I think we will see more technology sharing deals from the west to enable India stand on its own against the new China-Pak-Russia axis. Having a 2-engine fighter line like F-18/Rafale is a real possibility in this scenario as MKIs may not be upgradeable to full potential!!
Philip
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

Russia needs Pak more than us? That is so wide off the mark that it isn't worth responding too in detail except to say that pl read thd various interviews given by Russian and Indian leaders.If that was the case, purely from the mil angle the gulf on Indo-Ru cooperation is so wide in comparison that such a reasoning is incomprehensible.

Just for the record, even the Afghan govt. has just offerd an olive branch to the Taliban; which India has also welcomed (!), which tbe Russians have been advocating , preferring them included in some political settlement rather tham engaged in perpetual conflict . This is what the West created when it first covertly tried to overthrow then them Afghan govt. leading to Russian intervention, Gen.Zia taking advantage in promoting Islamic jihadism with his western partners.That blowback at 9/11 is what we're still experiencing today.Don't foget perfidious Albion who have fought Afghan Wars ad nauseum , returning to get their backsides burnt and buggered time and time again! :rotfl:

The West always helped us with tech? A sick joke! Trained us did the Brits but refused to sell us modern subs.Brits.Russia gave us the improved Foxtrots.Aircraft, same thing.Pak got Sabres and Starfighters , we were offered lowly Gnats but Russia gave us MIG-21s then later 23/27/29 incl.the fastest aircraft in the world, the MIG-25.

Admittedly, the French were good suppliers, anything if you could afford it, but remember that they sold the Mirage-3 to Pak first.It was only after Pak bought F- 16s that they started selling us Mirages ! Brits, always second line stuff and second hand naval warships and carriers.Their best act was selling us the Sea Harrier along with the Hermes at a time when the Cold War was in retreat.The Yanquis , nothing barring Packet transports until the Snake-Oil -Singh regime as a quid pro quo for the N- deal bought large qtys. of US mil. eqpt.There has simply been NO equiv to Russian support and tech missiles from ATGMs and SAMs to BMos, cryo- engines ( remember US sanctions after P-2?) , aircraft of so many types from MIG-21s to SU-30MKIs,warships, naval missiles, subs, N- subs, N- sub tech for our Arihant SSBNs and the hyper- BM os under development.

What may one ask has Pak recd. from Ru in comparison to what the US and West has supplied it with?! The Chins? Yes, quite a lot post CWar, but of lower capability than what India recd. and has been offered.The worst anti-Indian act of the US was turning a blinx eye (Clinton) to the Sino-NoKo-Pak nuclear and missile proliferation, deliberately done to weaken India.

Nevertheless, as we've been sniffing Uncle Sam's backside more often in the past few years, in the vain hope that he would bring Pak to heel, Russia has re- evaluated its relationship, but to a small extent only.It is engaging with Pak to defuse the Afghan war, something that we too want.It allowed transfer of Ru weaponry to the Afghan regime paid for by India! Anyone who seriously thinks that it is going to abandon India for the TSP is way off the mark.
Kashi
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Kashi »

Philip wrote:The Chins? Yes, quite a lot post CWar, but of lower capability than what India recd. and has been offered
Can you back it up with facts and figures?
Philip wrote:Nevertheless, as we've been sniffing Uncle Sam's backside more often in the past few years, in the vain hope that he would bring Pak to heel, Russia has re- evaluated its relationship, but to a small extent only.It is engaging with Pak to defuse the Afghan war, something that we too want.It allowed transfer of Ru weaponry to the Afghan regime paid for by India! Anyone who seriously thinks that it is going to abandon India for the TSP is way off the mark.
Aah! A true Roosi spokie couldn't have done a better job batting for Roosi interests than you Philip sa'ab

Let me x-post from my ramblings on the other thread

I am hard-pressed to remember when was the last time we went against "Russian interests". We've kept a hands-off policy on Syria, we have never commented or intervened in territorial disputes between Russia-Japan, Russia-China, Russia-Ukraine or Russia-Georgia, we have not joined the international community in condemning their actions or imposing sanctions. We remain the largest purchaser of their weapons systems.

And you have the gall to say that "we've been sniffing Uncle Sam's backside"??

What will you then call whatever and wherever the Roosis are sniffing of China?

In your blind support of Russia, you have absolutely no qualms about running down your own effing country?? If that's not utterly shameful I wonder what is.
panduranghari
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by panduranghari »

Look ultimately demographics is destiny. Until we reach singularity and AI becomes pervasive, you need boots on the ground to exert your authority. Russia is not immune from this and will have to face this head on. Unfortunately sizeable portion of the country is unlivable due to various factors.
Vivek K
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Vivek K »

Kashi- totally agree!! It is ok to like a family of products from one source. But to advocate the subjugation of sovereign foreign policy for those products is shameful or even worse. It is surprising this line of thinking has survived on BRF for so long.
Philip
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

Who's running down one's own country? Don't twist the tale to suit your fictional narrative.Back it up with hard facts... if you can.I have never put the interests of any other country before mine.

Who shamefully used the word " Baluchistan" on the advice of Uncle Sam and gave the Pakis a handle to beat us with? Who has been advising us for decades to kiss and make up with Pak despite its continuous terror campaign against us? Who has been funding and arming Pak for decades to prevent overwhelming Indian mil.superiority? Who uses drond strikes against terror elelements in Pak but advised us not to do the same? The prev. regime bent over backwards in obeisance to the Yanquis; remember the good doctor telling Dubya in grovelling manner that " India loved you"! At the height of Indo-Sov. friendship Mrs.G never allowed a Sov. base on Indian territory despite the Indo-Sov. Treaty of Friendship .She criticised the Sov. intervention in Afghanistan even though she understood the compulsions of the action, covert regime change plans by the US and West.

Under the UPA, Indian foreign policy had more smell of a Big Mac than masala chai! The Lutyens establishment has been heavily infiltrated by yanqui mindset, always looking to Washington for a signal before timidly squeaking.Indo-Iranian relations were held hostage for years becos of US sanctions.It is only now in the chaos of Washington under Trump that we've gathered enough strength to go forward with Chahbahar.The compulsions compounded by China's OBOR and we were being outmanouvred by it in the IOR itself.

Likewise, where did the SEF balloon come from? The absurd plan to dump legacy aircraft onto the IAF and sabotage the LCA! The NDA is slowly extricating itself in certain areas and taking more India-centric decisions , but the MEA myopia and grave timidity over China is preventing India from exercising its rightful authority even in its own backyard, as the crisis in the Maldives is revealing.The word used by a renowned Delhi defence analysts is babu "cowardice".

If you remember a news report a few months ago, the present GOI banned Indian service/defence officers from " freebie" courses in western countries ( read US), because these courses were the equiv. of bribes being offered to upcoming service officers to indoctrinate them into a pro-US mentality.This has been seen in the contours of aspirations in some of the services' ambitions, which appeared to be heavily influenced by the US.Unfortunately babus and their families camping in the US has not been curtailed as much as it has been done for the men and women in uniform, and the disease to "go west" still exists .

The indecent haste with which some quarters want us to play a subservient role to the US in the proposed Asian maritime "Quad" clearly aimed at China is regrettable.Instead India as I've said on the subject many a time should exert its own strat. doctrine and Pax Indica for the region and be the magnetic core which attracts other regional powers to it.The invitation to ASEAN leaders at the R- Day parade was a good initiative but the timidity shown over the Maldives crisis has weakened our appeal somewhat.If we can't exert our influence in our own backyard , being shown the upturned finger by a tadpole tyrant, who will believe us that we will come to their aid over a dispute with China?

PS: For all the vast cooperation on the mil front,tech transferred esp. that of N-sub tech, Russia has not insisted on the intrusive US inspector protocol, CISMOA and other agreements which would turn us into a de-facto vassal mil. ally of the US.If that happens we will see a real downturn in Indo- Ru relations which will benefit our two mortal enemies most.

France and Israel are two nations that are willing to sell us tech and eqpt. for hard cash.But look at what they've sold China too! The Lavi design and heaps of other defence systems and tech apart from setting up an A-320 plant .
To all mil. OEMs today, it's a global marketplace and whoever has hard cash can pick up what they want.The US has sold mil eqpt. to both India and Pak and Pak has recd. more damaging, lethal hardware than India.Pak was equipped with Harpoon and sub- Harpoon missiles long before the IN acquired Klubs for our upgraded Kilos.We obtained the same Harpoons only recently with the P-8 Is.So too has it had Exocet from France decades before we obtained it and tested it for the first time a year ago aboard INS Kalavri! Pak's principal fighter against India is the F-16 which from 2010 was equipped with 500 AMRAAM AIM-C-5s.This was just 7 years ago when it was supposedly honeymoon time between the US and India under Snake-Oil- Singh.And forgive me for almost forgetting P-3 Orion LRMP birds to sink IN subs.So to say that ghe " West" has always supported us in mil tech is stretching the facts and reality with the evidrnce at hand.
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by devesh »

Russia is attempting to build a buffer on southern frontier. That's the only reasoning which makes sense, given Russia's actions. Nothing else makes sense. We would have had some leverage if we had made sure there was no land bridge between China and Pak. For years now, it has been clear to me that we will continue to play a 2-cent role until we seal off Pak - China land connection. Retake PoK; perhaps even negotiate a swap of that narrow protrusion of Badakhshan from Afg in return for recognizing FATA as Afghani territory and boots on ground. Until we fundamentally change the basic balance of power on the subcontinent by isolating from Pak from PRC (land connection), we'll have no leverage or carrots to dangle in front of either USA or Russia. period.
hnair
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by hnair »

Philip, this is from Neutering thread. Do take a look at this proposal for a "NATO with Gin-flavor" proposal from Chinese foreign minister himself. He wont have talked of it, without running it via Shree Putin et al. India needs to wish its dear friend Russia good luck and hope for their sake that Shree Lavarov wins the argument :lol:
SSridhar wrote:China pushing to be more active in region, global diplomacy - PTI, Economic Times
China wants an eight-nation group it and Russia have dominated for its two-decade existence to be more active in regional and global diplomacy and will push to facilitate that at the group's next summit, foreign minister Wang Yi said {One reason for this move, apart from of course giving itself a legitimate fig-leaf to intervene in regional affairs, is to shackle India's hands} today.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has a "bounden duty to maintain peace and stability in our region and beyond," Wang told reporters at a news conference held on the fringes of the ceremonial legislature's annual meeting.

He said China would work with the other members to help the group "meet international expectations, take a clearer stand on major international and regional issues and play a more active role in regional cooperation and global economic governance."

China will host the SCO summit in the port of Qingdao in June. The group also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan, and China has sought to use it to ensure security along its Central Asian border, for example, by holding joint anti-terrorism exercises.

In international affairs, however, it has been a relative lightweight, and the new emphasis announced by Wang is in keeping with a Chinese push to broaden its global footprint with mega-projects such as the trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

Wang also emphasised what he called the key role played in China's more pro-active foreign policy by President Xi Jinping, who is likely to remain leader indefinitely after the legislature lifts presidential term limits.

"Since 2012, President Xi Jinping has been the chief architect of China's major country diplomacy. He was personally involved in the planning and conduct of head of state diplomacy, which by world acclaim has been brilliant," Wang said.

Xi has visited 57 countries and received a more than 110 foreign heads of state, Wang said, citing Xi's "leadership and charisma." Those visits and meetings that "go a long way toward deepening the world's understanding of China, enhancing China's profile and influence, and facilitating the solution of many global problems," he said.

On the Korean Peninsula, Wang claimed success for China's proposal for a "dual suspension" of North Korean nuclear activities in return for a suspension of South Korea-US war games.

"This proves that China's proposal of suspension for suspension was the right prescription for the problem and created basic conditions for the improvement of inter-Korean relations," Wang said.

Pyongyang's security concerns should be addressed in return for a pledge to denuclearise, he said.

Wang also indicated he expects more countries would cut formal ties with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. China has been steadily increasing political, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan to force President Tsai Ing-wen to endorse its contention that the self-governing island democracy is a part of China.

"To establish diplomatic relations with the government of the People's Republic of China that is the sole legal government to represent all China and conduct normal cooperation is apparently a right choice that conforms to the tide of times," Wang said.
chetak
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by chetak »

Philip wrote:Russia needs Pak more than us? That is so wide off the mark that it isn't worth responding too in detail except to say that pl read thd various interviews given by Russian and Indian leaders.If that was the case, purely from the mil angle the gulf on Indo-Ru cooperation is so wide in comparison that such a reasoning is incomprehensible.

Just for the record, even the Afghan govt. has just offerd an olive branch to the Taliban; which India has also welcomed (!), which tbe Russians have been advocating , preferring them included in some political settlement rather tham engaged in perpetual conflict . This is what the West created when it first covertly tried to overthrow then them Afghan govt. leading to Russian intervention, Gen.Zia taking advantage in promoting Islamic jihadism with his western partners.That blowback at 9/11 is what we're still experiencing today.Don't foget perfidious Albion who have fought Afghan Wars ad nauseum , returning to get their backsides burnt and buggered time and time again! :rotfl:

The West always helped us with tech? A sick joke! Trained us did the Brits but refused to sell us modern subs.Brits.Russia gave us the improved Foxtrots.Aircraft, same thing.Pak got Sabres and Starfighters , we were offered lowly Gnats but Russia gave us MIG-21s then later 23/27/29 incl.the fastest aircraft in the world, the MIG-25.

Admittedly, the French were good suppliers, anything if you could afford it, but remember that they sold the Mirage-3 to Pak first.It was only after Pak bought F- 16s that they started selling us Mirages ! Brits, always second line stuff and second hand naval warships and carriers.Their best act was selling us the Sea Harrier along with the Hermes at a time when the Cold War was in retreat.The Yanquis , nothing barring Packet transports until the Snake-Oil -Singh regime as a quid pro quo for the N- deal bought large qtys. of US mil. eqpt.There has simply been NO equiv to Russian support and tech missiles from ATGMs and SAMs to BMos, cryo- engines ( remember US sanctions after P-2?) , aircraft of so many types from MIG-21s to SU-30MKIs,warships, naval missiles, subs, N- subs, N- sub tech for our Arihant SSBNs and the hyper- BM os under development.


What may one ask has Pak recd. from Ru in comparison to what the US and West has supplied it with?! The Chins? Yes, quite a lot post CWar, but of lower capability than what India recd. and has been offered.The worst anti-Indian act of the US was turning a blinx eye (Clinton) to the Sino-NoKo-Pak nuclear and missile proliferation, deliberately done to weaken India.

Nevertheless, as we've been sniffing Uncle Sam's backside more often in the past few years, in the vain hope that he would bring Pak to heel, Russia has re- evaluated its relationship, but to a small extent only.It is engaging with Pak to defuse the Afghan war, something that we too want.It allowed transfer of Ru weaponry to the Afghan regime paid for by India! Anyone who seriously thinks that it is going to abandon India for the TSP is way off the mark.

Read about what the brits did to us after independence, and our local besotted heroes still kept sniffing around edwina, with nary a care about how we were being stiffed.

Its Russia that came to our aid with weapons and other high tech stuff.

The amrekis, brits and the pakis have been in bed for years along with several gulf countries, iran and turkey included.

They have always trampled all over us and it is only now that many of them, in their greed for markets, have since backed off, pretending that they were always our friends and well wishers.

How India Paid to Create the London of Today
BY KANNAN SRINIVASAN ON 20/04/2017

A sudden change in the currency with which old debts to the colonies had to be paid helped Britain consolidate its status as a financial centre.


The UK is a tax haven closely connected to other tax havens it has set up. Its trade deficit is therefore offset by the money pouring in from its own tax havens. Almost 90% of net capital inflows to the UK come from just Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. So far, there has been no decline in such funds with the news of Brexit. Britain enjoys a significant measure of protection from the consequences of leaving the EU by virtue of this rush of cash.

How did London achieve this status of being a major financial centre? Knowing this history might be useful, especially for Indians, as the country played a role in it, thanks to the steps taken by Prime Minister Clement Attlee’s Labour government in 1947, employing the resources of newly independent India.

As war broke out in 1939, the trade surpluses run up by India, Egypt, Brazil and others trading primarily in sterling, were withheld by Britain. Total debt to all such creditors (excluding the US, which obtained British businesses and naval and aircraft bases in return for cash) amounted to £3.48 billion. In addition, two and an half million Indian soldiers fighting in Italy, North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East were paid salaries; when any died, their widows were to be paid pensions by the government of India, which remained uncompensated even as the war ended. All this made India (which included the future state of Pakistan) the largest Allied creditor after the US. Britain owed her £1.335 billion ($5.23 billion, which is about $59 billion today). Britain owed the next largest creditor, Egypt, £450 million. At a conservative estimate, the debt to India amounted to about a fifth of the UK gross national product, or seventeen times the annual government of India revenue at highly depressed prices.

India, and other such creditor countries, expected that their future economic development could be significantly financed by the money owed by Britain. But with a run-down industrial economy in 1945, the UK had little that such countries needed.

What the creditors wanted was dollars. They expected, with the money to be released by Britain, to import the plant and machinery they needed from the new leading industrial power, the US.

White plan

There seemed, at first, to be a way to get such convertible currency. Harry Dexter White, the chief adviser to US treasury secretary Henry Morgenthau, framed a scheme for the purchase of these balances, in stages, by the new fund to be set up after the war, the subsequent injection of liquidity, and re-purchase.

But, as White was aware, if Britain honoured her enormous debts in this way, that might have meant a more rapid disbanding of the British occupation of Aden, Greece, Malaya and many African countries. The Royal Navy would not have had the resources to play a role of any significance, nor would Britain become a nuclear weapons state. India, Egypt, Brazil and others might have fared far better than Britain did. And, as will be become clear, London would not have become the new hub of international finance.

The celebrated economist John Maynard Keynes had been appointed by the UK government to negotiate post-war arrangements with the United States and other countries. He fiercely resisted this White Plan. He set out to make sure that the sterling balances could somehow be conjured away.

Over the next year, he lobbied effectively in Washington DC — his hard work seemed to pay off. So when the great conference took place at Bretton Woods in 1944 to lay out the post-war reconstruction of the global economy, and the sterling issue was raised by Egypt and by India, the US treasury team abandoned its own commitment to “liberate blocked balances”.

Another ray of hope

Yet after these creditor countries lost out at Bretton Woods, they drew hope from a key provision of the Anglo-American Loan Agreement. Under that treaty, the US provided a credit of $3.75 billion repayable over 50 years at 2% on the specific condition that Britain made the pound sterling convertible into any other currency for current transactions. Accordingly, the pound sterling was made convertible the July 17, 1947.

So as India negotiated the terms of these sterling balances in London over the course of August 1947, her team expected to convert their assets into dollars.

Hope betrayed

But the Indians were unaware how much had changed in Washington DC. The new president, Harry Truman, had changed virtually the entire cabinet he had inherited from Franklin Roosevelt. The people India had thought it could count on to keep Indian interests in mind had been replaced by determined Cold Warriors entirely unsympathetic to India, such as Dean Acheson. At the same time, these new hawkish Truman aides saw Britain – with her enormous network of bases all around the world and large armed forces everywhere – as the key ally.


Emboldened by her new status, Britain is said to have secretly sounded out the US, and received a discreet assurance that she could avoid repaying India, Pakistan, Egypt and others their wartime debt in convertible currency.

So, as India’s representative, B.K. Nehru wound up India’s negotiations in London for the transfer of the balances he was mystified by what his British counterpart murmured to him.

“Wilfred Eady ..said to me (August 15, 1947), ‘Watch your dollars’,” Nehru has written. Nehru did not understand.

“Why should he talk about dollars when the pound had become convertible? All the sterling would become available for purchases in the dollar area, so why did he want me to watch my dollars?”

He was to find out when Britain renounced the convertibility of the pound sterling on the current account within five days of signing the agreement with India.

As Nehru ruefully acknowledged, this “immediately changed the character of the agreement which we had entered into. The pounds released were no longer usable for what we wanted to buy.”

Britain then devalued the pound in 1949, diminishing the value of the claims of the creditor countries by thirty per cent.

What if?

Had Britain not defaulted on convertibility, many countries would have switched to the US dollar in order to finance their imports. Thereafter the central banks of the world would have cut back on their holdings, effectively exiting from the pound sterling.

It was not in Britain’s interest to allow that to happen. Given that the US dollar was the premier international currency, the pound sterling now had to survive at least as the secondary currency for the purpose of international settlement. So default on convertibility was the absolute precondition in order to ensure a gradual drawdown on sterling.

This gave London the time to re-invent itself. Since so many central banks around the world were compelled to hold sterling and therefore trade as much as they could with the UK, Britain survived as an important financial centre. As the stock of US dollars held outside the US grew, it was bound to attract the interest of innovative financiers, and the most innovative were in London. Merchant bankers in the city first saw the potential of trade and investment in this Eurodollar market. The enormous volume of transactions in the Eurodollar market enabled London to return to its role before the First World War, as the most important centre of international finance. Post-war Britain was on its way.

In the meantime, creditor countries such as India and Egypt had to settle for occasional drawings of pounds sterling that they could convert into no other currency. They therefore had to buy goods from nowhere else but the UK. But British industry however had in many areas ceased to be internationally competitive in terms of its prices or technology. So this arrangement suited not the holders of sterling, but the UK, in that she could sell them obsolete plant and machinery at higher prices than would been possible in any free market. The UK had found a captive export market for goods that could be exported nowhere else. India’s imports of the Ford Prefect, the Standard Vanguard, the Morris Oxford, the Indian Naval Ships Delhi and Mysore, all date from the golden age of sterling balances.

But as independent India faced acute food shortages, her stock of sterling could buy her none. She had to turn to the World Bank and IMF to make up the convertible currency she needed, and pay for imports of food courtesy the Aid India Consortium, composed of the World Bank and a group of countries that included, ironically, the UK.

Britain gained the opportunity to employ her former colonies, and possessions of the Crown, to organise capital flight from all around the world. The Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dubai, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, Singapore and many other such tax havens enable wealthy individuals to conceal their liquid assets. Yet their close connection with London, that most efficient financial centre, enables the best possible returns for the super-rich. All this is possible because Britain avoided honouring her war time debts to India and other countries promptly, and in convertible currency. The enforced Indian loan acted as developmental finance to the UK economy. India’s sacrifices during the war and after may have benefited it but little. But they certainly made possible the London of today.

Kannan Srinivasan, who is working on a book on money laundering, wrote this article at the Wertheim Study, New York Public Library. kannansrinivasan.org
Philip
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Philip »

Perfidious Albion.How man hjndreds of povert stricken Indians thus suffered after British chicanery post WW2 too! And let's not forget who pushed Pak to invade Kashmir in 1948.

PS: Our two trump cards beginning with the letter "T" have never even been brought out of the vault.Tibet and Taiwan.All we have to do is to give the Tibetans and Taiwanese plots for their " embassy" initially masquerading as a "centre" in Chanakyapuri.The Chins will howl and scowl and threaten all manner of consequences foul, but will realise that if they don't want two major diplomatic catastrophes which other nations would emulate India's bold actions, they had better reach an accommodation with us on the border, removing their their troops in POK, etc.But our MEA mandarins operate only in fair weather.They tremble during any crisis and if on foreign shores like Iraq or Syria or Yemen, like ostriches stick their heads in the ground.
Last edited by Philip on 08 Mar 2018 17:30, edited 2 times in total.
chetak
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by chetak »

Philip wrote:Perfixious Albion.How man hjndreds of povert stricken Indians thus suffered after British chicanery post WW2 too! And let's not forget who pushed Pak to invade Kashmir in 1948.
brexit is coming. They are very keen to make deals.

we will have our chance.

boots and testimonials need to meet harshly.
Austin
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Austin »

Friend in Need - India’s decades old relationship with Russia should keep up with the times

Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat (retd)Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat (retd)

Strong, deep, reliable foundation in science and technology, keeping long-term interests in mind, is essential to the making of a self-reliant nation. This journey started in earnest with India’s first Five Year Plan, inspired by the ideals and goals of the freedom movement. These strivings meant setting up plants to make steel; special and alloy steel; heavy engineering and machine tools (mother machines); heavy electrical; tractors and farm machinery; oil exploration ashore and offshore; and setting up a chain of laboratories in basic sciences and for developing atomic energy.

A nation’s armed forces — the army, navy and air force — are a mirror of the country’s achievements in science and technology. Military systems and capabilities are closely aligned, with strong, concurrent connections to almost all advanced technology disciplines that form the base to modernise the military and military technologies. It is difficult to name an advance in technology which does not have a close relationship with the military capabilities of a nation.

As leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi laid the foundations for a modern nation to be, and later in 1968 spelt out its military-strategic objectives, Dr Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Satish Dhawan led the atomic energy and space establishments to deep cooperation with the corresponding advanced design and research institutes in the Soviet Union — in the Moscow and Leningrad regions as also centres ‘east of Urals’, too many to be named here. It was a deep bonding far beyond the formal agreements signed between the two governments. Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, directors of institutes, heads of zavods (plants) interacted closely and jointly formulated detailed work plans and helped set up pioneering ventures in India in diverse sectors/ segments.

We later saw the results of this cooperation blossoming under the ‘Privileged Strategic Partnership’ with Russia in 2000, augmented and accelerated when the heads of government met annually to cover new areas in computer sciences, electronics, lasers, hyper-sonic vehicles, space, cyber security, space navigation systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI), energy, nuclear technology, material sciences, robotics and futuristic sensitive areas which are not in the public domain. The story of the actual transfer of seven cryogenic engines and their transfer of technology to India for manufacture with improvements, despite various hurdles is now too well known and its details are not necessary to narrate here. The nuclear submarine Arihant and the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missiles are also notable examples.

All these synergies have contributed to qualitative accretion of strengths which make for the military potential of our nation.

Before I go to some examples of close cooperation in the defence area, one needs to recall that in December 1971, post the signing of the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the Soviet Union was giving us near real-time satellite intelligence of all that was relevant and made a difference. Units of the Soviet Navy not only shadowed the USN Enterprise with surface combatants but their nuclear boats were also in the area of operations. All this was known to the Pentagon and likely factored by them in their decision to abandon certain complimentary operations planned earlier for intervention in Bangladesh operations.

Returning to some examples, the decision to acquire MiG-21 supersonic fighters (the first supersonics for India) was an equally significant project. The MiG engines plant at Koraput begun in 1964-65, for major overhauls in the first instance, as Air Commodore Amin, the general manager proudly told the then chief of the naval staff, Admiral A.K. Chatterji in 1968. I was accompanying the Admiral as his Flag Lieutenant. The plant now makes 80 per cent of the engine of the Su-30MKI aircraft. The MiG airframe plant was also then established at Nashik and now turns out Su-30MKI fighters.

According to an interview of Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), T. Suvarna Raju, the Nashik plant is gearing-up to manufacture the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and awaiting a decision of the government of India, having shared Design & Development funding of the FGFA project. Raju said, “It would be an opportunity for India to acquire the latest in aviation high technology which has not been offered to us by any other country except Russia”.

Among other notable offers that were made was of the Tu-22M, a long range strategic bomber in 1971, but it was not recommended for acquisition, for reasons that are not fathomable! The MiG-29, a top-of-the-line fighter, was acquired in 1981-82 and a production line for this aircraft was also offered. It is of interest that the CNS took up the transfer of Tu-22M3 strategic bomber for the navy in July 1998 in Moscow and the same was agreed to at the level of Russia’s defence minister. However, for unknown reasons this formidable aircraft acquisition was not pursued after 1999! At this point one has to note that the electronic warfare systems in aircraft like the IL-38, Tu-142 LRMPs and the Kamov series helicopters have not met our expectations. It’s another matter that the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook, faced the effectiveness of Russian airborne Electronic Warfare systems when it was deployed in the Black Sea, off Crimea, about two years ago, when all its surveillance and weapons, fire control radar systems were rendered cold and unserviceable and sent shock waves in the Pentagon.

The ‘Foxtrot’ class series of conventional submarines acquired by the navy had a reputation of their own. Many in India frequently critiqued these boats as being ‘noisy’ and persuaded our decision-makers in the Eighties to go in for a silent submarine type, though this ‘silent’ was really an illusion. One of our Foxtrots was in Hong Kong on its way to Vladivostok for medium repairs. It so happened that Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the world-famous father of the US Navy’s nuclear submarines, was also in Hong Kong and requested for a visit to the ‘noisy’ Foxtrot, conveying that it was his long-held dream to see this Boat. The Commanding Officer, Commander Bhate, while being bowled over, rang up the CNS’ office in New Delhi and requested instructions. The CNS, Admiral Ram Tahiliani was surprised too but gave his approval, with a knowing smile!

Admiral Rickover, after being on board, told the happy Captain that the ‘Foxtrots’ was one of the finest designs of a diesel submarine, often on patrol off the US Coast and he had long admired their design and performance features.

An example of the Indian Army’s tank programme would be in order. From T-55, T72Ms to the ‘Make in India’ of T-90s with a modern fire control system and leading up to the possible acquisition and transfer of technology (ToT) of the latest Armata tank, a sensation in the making at the Awadi Plant near Chennai.

The S-400 Air Defence Missile System is being imported, but in the future, if the past is any guide, this formidable, high probability of kill system, perhaps the best in the design and development, similar to BRAHMOS could be made in India.

Perhaps, the closest and deepest of design, development and ‘Make in India’ projects is exemplified in the Indian Navy. Starting with the Agreement of 1965, the navy not only imbibed and digested Soviet combat design philosophy of very high power-weight ratios, and combat punch to displacement (size) ratios but set about building ambitious major repair (with integral building docks, workshop spaces with reserve capacities and Design Offices) facilities and commissioned the Soviet Project Report for setting up a full-fledged naval dockyard and a later submarine building centre (adjacent) where our first of the class Ballistic Missile Submarines are being launched through a national effort and where Russian assistance has been ‘vital’ as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh stated during the launch of the first Nuclear Boat, the Arihant. An old navy saying is that ‘a Fleet is as strong as the Dockyard that supports it.’ The transfer of Chakra I in 1987 and Chakra II is unprecedented in maritime cooperation and no other country is likely to part with a military technology of this magnitude in the near future or which demonstrates such trust and mutual confidence, in such a sensitive area. Suffice it to say that, Marshal of the USSR and Chief of General Staff, S.F. Akhromeyev, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, S G Gorshkov, Engineer Admiral Kotov, Academician Spaasky of the Leningrad Design Bureau (now the Design Bureau, St Petersburg, SPB) whom the Indian Navy has known as long-time friends, and Admirals S.N. Kohli, Ram Tahiliani and I were fortunate to know, were amongst many others in the design institutes, factories, plants, shipyards who made a difference.

The previous anecdote has a useful lesson for many as the later Kilo Class submarines (1997) were armed with the Klub anti-ship and Land Attack Cruise Missile (LACM) with a maximum effective range and warhead, not offered by any other country and at a price-tag not matched by others.

Briefly recalling the nuclear submarine story (FORCE, December 2017), it was at the intervention of the Prime Minister and defence minister Indira Gandhi that progress having been stalled in 1977, due to a change in government, that Chakra I came to us on lease in 1987, against an offer of a fleet of nuclear submarines, made by defence minister Marshal D.F. Ustinov in 1980. In 1998, both the proposal for Chakra II and earlier the acceleration in 1997 of our indigenous nuclear submarine gathered momentum with Russia playing a major role in the project, which has since fructified with Arihant and now the second of the series, setting in motion a national programme of vital strategic importance.

Regarding the financial aspects, under the 1965 agreement we were facilitated by the Rupee trade where India’s exports paid for our bills. In 1975 our acquisitions were under a 10-year credit line at 2.1 per cent interest. In about 1980 the credit terms were improved in India’s favour with a credit line of 15 years at 1.8 per cent, the first instalment to be paid in June following the year of delivery of the platform. In the Nineties, the payments were in dollars. We are now at a stage when special Rupee-Ruble terms of trade are under discussion.

Any professional in the armed forces would vouch that Russia as the successor state, gives performance figures for its systems which are in fact somewhat understated. They usually outperform the given Tactical Technical Data (TTD).

Russia’s platforms and weapon system have given a performance which is unmatched in the war zone. President Putin himself asserted that their cruise missiles launched from the Caspian Sea, over 2,500 kilometres away, from submarines and corvette-sized small ships, hit their targets in Syria, with a circular error of probability (CEP) of three metres. In comparison, the much-televised attack by 59 Tomahawks launched from the Mediterranean did little damage to the assets at Syrian Khmeimim airbase, the target (the ‘Kaliber’ SLCM, with a range of about 2,500 km, has been retrofitted in the 877 EKM/ Kilo class submarines, also hit targets in Syria terrorist bases with the same accuracy).

The performance of Russian precision guided munitions (PGMs) has been equally applauded the world over. Some of these are in our inventory and for some we have joint projects.

In February 2016, I met Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha in Vishakhapatnam and raised with him the need for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to study the performance of Russian aircraft in Syria, with particular reference to the sortie rates per day, per aircraft type, turnaround times and down times. He agreed that such a detailed study was overdue and he would direct such a study by the air staff. The IAF has a pilot to aircraft ratio in operational squadrons of just 1.2 compared to the Russian Air Force which fields at an average six pilots per aircraft. He agreed that the Russian Air Force operated in Syria with serious handicaps — from unprepared airfields, bare bones technical and logistics support, almost no hangar facilities and all that a full-fledged air base provides, yet their aircraft availability and operations, sortie rates, over nearly two years have been outstanding. We have lessons to learn.

The nurturing and grooming of human capital goes hand in hand with modernisation and induction/absorption of hi-tech. Deep specialisation, stable and long tenures and retention incentives in many areas like nuclear submarines, reactor engineering and design bureaus are must to optimise returns in some disciplines. Design engineers are difficult to find and retain. No one parts with diamonds! Admirals Rickover and Kotov did not retire. Academician Igor Spassky and his likes just carry on designing! In our case, the director, Aircraft Development Agency retired on 30 April 2017 on reaching the age of 60 years or his age of incompetence! This way we cannot reach for the stars.

An example of the Chinese scientists would be in order here. The Chinese students at the Dubna Institute of Nuclear Physics in the late Fifties were placed in the top three positions in successive years and the Soviet professors wondered what they would do in the years ahead. Well, they are retained, as in all China’s mega projects, the C-919 passenger jet, the high speed rail networks, the three gorges dam, the Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge, Quantum Communications Project, the Deep Dive Research Submarine, the nuclear submarine programme and so on.

Since the long years of our cooperation has everything gone smoothly, as planned, as per agreed time frames? The answer is no. While the political leaderships of the two countries, at their level fully endorse the letter and spirit of the agreements — and the political leadership at the apex level reviews the ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’, in particular of year 2000, at their annual meetings, the fact is that at the bureaucratic, ground level one faces manmade obstructions from time to time. One may recall the words of defence minister YB Chavan during a discussion on the subject, at his residence in Race Course Road, and who played a major role in laying the foundations of the Military Technical Cooperation in the Sixties. He said to me, “At the political level there was great understanding but sometimes at the bureaucratic level there was obstruction which made it difficult to meet agreed time-frames for project implementation and support.”

At times, words and phrases in contract are subject to different interpretations. Price negotiations take place when the teams know the price to the nearest rouble or rupee but do not sufficiently appreciate its real value or that there is no other source for the same.

In more recent times, things have changed for the better in some areas. One can communicate to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). There is also a feedback channel on defects and materials, for example with the United Aircraft Corporation. Specialist payments are being better negotiated, across projects, to give a better return on investment, and on time, as delays cost not only money but operational availability of frontline assets. Factory to factory communication channels appear to have improved, though they are not entirely free of glitches, requiring high level of intervention, at times, at the political level.

During the 17th India-Russia annual Summit on 15 October 2016, ‘the leaders reviewed the special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia. They noted that it is rooted in the long history of mutual trust characterised by unmatched reciprocal support to each other’s core interests and unique people to people affinities. They pledged to pursue new opportunities to take the economic ties to unprecedented heights, achieve sustainable development, and promote peace and security at home and around the world’.

Acknowledging Russia’s crucial contribution to India’s industrial and technological development including defence needs since the second half of the last century, Prime Minister Modi reiterated that ‘Russia will remain India’s major defence and strategic partner… the enduring partnership between them is an anchor of peace and stability in a changing World Order.’ President Putin reaffirmed Russia’s continued commitment to the ‘Privileged Strategic Partnership with India and noted the commonality of positions of both countries on such issues as war and terrorism’.

Post the joint statement at the Indo-Russia Summit of October 2016 there is a need for the defence services leadership to take a cue and depute many high calibre, top-of-the-line talent in their service for attachment at the specialised institutes in subjects like aerodynamics, aircraft design bureaus, hydrodynamics and ship/ submarine design bureaus, nuclear reactor engineering, armoured vehicle design, hypersonic vehicles, cybernetics, AI to name only a few, for adequately long periods of time.

This cooperation should thereafter be enhanced and/or expanded to collaboration with the institutes and design bureaus and to set up corresponding ones in India, where necessary, in new areas and over the horizon systems for design and development, keeping live communications and exchanges on a continuing basis for us to derive the benefits fully in areas of advanced and advancing technology, of which cooperation in advanced military technology is an integral part. In order to realise the full potential of such cooperation on an enduring basis it is essential to systematise such institutional relationships.

At appropriate intervals of time, the army, navy, air staffs, singly and jointly, need to consider ‘Reviews’ of their ‘Force-Mix’ and ‘Force Architecture’, to enhance their war-fighting potential, factoring in the military-effectiveness and cost-benefit of newly inducted hi-tech systems so as to achieve more balanced fighting formations in the field. Russia has achieved this and its defence budget to neutralise the ‘Big-Budget’ forces, threatening it, in fact, is expected to reduce from about USD50 billion two years ago to USD42 billion in 2018, as stated by President Putin recently in his end-of-the-year ‘Message’ to the Russian nation.

We need to remember that hi-tech, home-grown or jointly developed with our long-time strategic partner, is not an end in itself. People are central to the resolve to defend national independence and sovereignty by determined mobilisation to defend our right to an autonomous path to all-round, inclusive development.

(The writer is a former chief of naval staff)
Austin
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Austin »

Putin - If Russia Disappears, So Will The World!

Austin
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Austin »

Putin's interview with NBC's Megyn Kelly

Parasu
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Re: India-Russia: News & Analysis

Post by Parasu »

^^^
Putin handles these American journos pretty well.
But why does he care to give interviews to these American bimbos?
Does Trump give interview to Russians? Did Bush? Obama?
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