India-Russia: News & Analysis

Johann · Post by **Johann** » 31 Oct 2010 23:35

Philip wrote:Johann,culture and religion link a huge part of Asia and India together.Buddhism and Hinduism have such a rich heritage apart from the sub-continent,in the ASEAN states like,Burma,Indonesia,Siam/Thailand,Indo-China,even as far as China and Japan.Just look at the architectural heritage.Angkor Wat,Borubador,Bali,In fact,Japanese and Tamil have strong roots as discovered a couple of decades ago by linguists from both countries.This is an area which India has traditionally neglected in conduct of its foreign policy and I'm not sure if it has even woken up now to the potential that it has in furthering closer ties with these nations.

Philip,

What you are talking about is the influence of ideas, languages and practices from Indian civilisation, which is profound of course.

Certainly I'm sure that such cultural ties can be mobilised to reinforce diplomatic, strategic and the people to people relationships.

What I've asked is whether this thing called 'Asia' has an existence beyond the history of European isolation (the 'Dark Ages') followed by European colonisation in era of racial ideology.

"Asia" is really the home of three different historical civilisations - a Semitic one, a Subcontinental one, and a North-East Asian one. There are also very important hybridised offshoots like Persia and Java which could be argued to be civilisations in their own right.

Austin wrote:Wasnt Indian Ocean a kind of Zone of Peace between Soviet and US during Cold War and hence no body played the funny game they played at Atlantic ?

That changed in the late 1960s with the rise of Admiral Gorshov who was determined to project Soviet influence and strength in to the Indian Ocean.

Competition increased throughout the 1970s, and was much sharper around the Horn of Africa, southern Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.

This was in part because in a number of countries post-colonial non-Aligned governments were overthrown by doctrinaire Marxist revolutionaries. Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Yemen, etc.

You could see the conflict at the NAM conference in Havana in 1979 when you had on one side genuinely independent states like Yugoslavia and India, and on the other side Moscow affiliated Marxists like Castro, etc. Castro beat out Tito and dominated the conference. It was really a sort of last gasp in any case.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 01 Nov 2010 10:13

HEPY to see Nehru
A prime minister, a state visit and a permanent Security Council seat turned down
Inder Malhotra

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/HEPY- ... hru/705367

AKalam · Post by **AKalam** » 01 Nov 2010 11:07

HEPY in Russian Cyrillic would be pronounced Neru or Nyeru to be more exact. There is an "h" in Cyrillic, but it sounds more like "kh", that's why Russians cannot properly say "h" and say something closer to "kh" instead

. So instead of writing NEHRU, which would look like HEXPY (X is this h or kh), and which would sound like Nekhru, they have probably dropped the h from his name and made it HEPY instead. Just thought it was interesting. Any Russian speaker may elaborate further.

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 01 Nov 2010 19:51

They are putting their global jihad machine to good use

http://mfs-theothernews.blogspot.com/

3 Churches set ablaze in Russia's Muslim Caucasus.Two Russian Orthodox churches and one Baptist Church were set alight in the predominantly Muslim province of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Russian news agencies said, adding no one was hurt in the attacks."An unknown group of people set fire to the Russian Orthodox church in the village of Ordzhonikidze, it is practically completely burned," Interfax reported, citing Kazim Baybanov, a spokesman for the local ministry of interior affairs.Vandalism of churches is rare in Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus, where Christian communities live amongst Muslims.Muslim Youths angry about poverty and fueled by the global ideology of jihad (holy war) are fighting for an independent state separate from predominantly Christian Russia, where they want to establish Sharia, Islamic law.Hmmmm.....The religion of Peace.Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 07 Nov 2010 20:47

Nothing strategic about this but Putin driving formula one car

Russia's Putin drives Formula 1 car at 150 miles per hour

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tested his capacities as a Formula 1 pilot, driving a racing car for several hours at a speed of 240 km/ h (149 miles per hour) on a special track in the Leningrad Region in Russia's northwest.

Video of the event link

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 09 Nov 2010 07:31

Georgia details nuclear smuggling
By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Desmond Butler, Associated Press – Sun Nov 7, 1:06 pm ET

WASHINGTON – On a dark morning in March, two Armenians slipped aboard a train in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, unaware they were being watched. They removed a pack of Marlboro Reds hidden in a maintenance box between two cars. Inside the pack, Georgian authorities say, was nuclear bomb grade uranium, encased in lead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101107/ap_ ... _smuggling

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 09 Nov 2010 07:33

Hundreds of Russian veterans, servicemen demand defence minister's ouster, protests cuts

By Sasha Merkushev (CP) – 1 day ago

MOSCOW — More than 1,000 Russian military veterans and active servicemen rallied Sunday to demand the ouster of the defence minister, a civilian who is carrying out a radical reform of Russia's armed forces.

The rally was organized by veterans from the Airborne Forces, considered the most professional and proud branch of the military. But members of other branches also took part, as well as monarchists, nationalists and hardline Orthodox Christians.

Under Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's reforms, as many as 200,000 officers have lost their jobs and nine of every 10 army units have been disbanded. The reforms, which have strong backing from the Kremlin, are aimed at turning Russia's bloated and inefficient military into a modern force.

Speaker after speaker accused Serdyukov of selling out the army, threatening Russia's security and acting in the interests of Zionists. Anti-Semitic sentiments permeated many of the speeches.

Retired Col. Vladimir Kvachkov, who served in military intelligence, said plans were being made to fight back.

"Paratroopers, we haven't carried out our main special operation, our main battle, yet," he said. "Our special operation, our main (missile) launch, our main campaign at sea are ahead."

Kvachkov, 62, spent three years in prison on charges of attempting to kill Anatoly Chubais, who was instrumental in the privatizations of Russian industry in the 1990s. He was acquitted in 2008.

The rally was triggered by Serdyukov's visit to the Airborne Forces Academy, where he gave a harsh dressing-down to the head of the academy over the unauthorized construction of an Orthodox church on its grounds.

Many of the participants in Sunday's rally said they were angry that Serdyukov did not want to see churches built on military bases.

They also bristled at being led by a civilian defence minister, the country's first in 90 years.

"We hope that civil servant Serdyukov — I cannot say 'comrade' or use his military rank, if he has one — will listen to us and submit his resignation of his own free will, but there is no tradition of this in Russia," said retired Lt. Col. Vladimir Bondarenko, 50.

Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadi ... Id=5061035

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 09 Nov 2010 07:41

Interesting, but caveat emptor:

Behind Purge of Moscow Mayor is Kremlin Power Battle
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/component ... wer-battle

The dramatic confrontation between the politically powerful Mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is far more than a Russian corruption scandal. It is the latest move in a global chess game of power between the faction increasingly lined up behind former President Vladimir Putin and current president Medvedev. At stake is whether Russia becomes an integrated part of a global NATO or it remains independent.

Nominally, Medvedev stated he fired the Mayor, on the grounds of "having lost Mr. Medvedev's confidence." The nominal trigger was the accusation in public in September by Luzhkov that Medvedev had blocked progress on a new highway linking Moscow and St. Petersburg. The deeper background according to our Russian sources is a deepening power struggle between former allies Putin and Medvedev over the future of Russia. Under the Russian Constitution the President has legal powers to fire local and state officials for sufficient grounds.

Because of the barrage of attack launched by state media under Medvedev's control against the Major, Putin has been forced to appear as supporting the purge. Luzhkov was a key Putin supporter and as Mayor of Moscow, an indispensable ally in preventing Putin's own dismissal and possible arrest according to these sources.

The reality is that Luzhkov as political boss of Moscow, Russia's largest city of some 18 million, potentially could determine the next President in the 2012 elections. Under the Russian Constitution, Putin, who was forced to step down after two terms, is eligible to run again. The Moscow purge by Medvedev is aimed at destroying Putin's political machine in order to block that. The purge of Luzhkov is expected to be followed by purges of other Putin loyalists in coming weeks including regional governors Boris Gromov (Moscow), Dmitry Zelenin (Tver), Leonid Polezhayev (Omsk) and Viktor Kress (Tomsk), before going after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin himself.

Medvedev veto of S-300 to Iran

The recent veto by Medvedev of the agreed sale of anti-aircraft advanced S-300 defense systems to Teheran as we indicated earlier (Fraktionskampf im Kreml gewinnt an Scharfe uber Iran), was a significant part of the growing power split between the two factions inside Russia, the one seeing Russia in nationalistic eyes as a sovereign if weakened former power with significant resources and positioned to play a key role in international politics. The other, Medvedev's appears determined to dissolve Russia along with Poland, Georgia, Hungary and the former East-bloc into the NATO Atlantic alliance.

According to General Leonid Ivashov of the Russian Academy on Geopolitical Affairs, and former Chief of the Department for General Affairs in the Soviet Union's Ministry of Defense, and member of the Russian Joint Chief of Staff, Medvedev's decision to veto the Iranian delivery of S-300 missiles "undermine Russia's prestige and erode its security, making the world less safe for every one of us. At the moment the Islamic world has reasons to believe that Moscow has switched to the camp of its foes. Given the facts that Russia is locked in a protracted conflict in the Muslim part of the Caucasus and that over a million Muslims reside in Moscow, antagonizing Muslims worldwide is the last thing the country needs." Recently Medvedev as President has moved to back a dramatic reform of the Russian military proposed by Defense Minister Serdyukov, as well as the acquisitions of Israeli and NATO weapons, joint Russia-West exercises in the US and in Europe, and closings of military colleges. Ivashov declares these moves all "lead watchers to conclude that the broader plan behind it is to build what still remains of Russia's army and navy into the US and NATO expedition corps."

By F. William Engdahl, author of Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century, Contact at http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 09 Nov 2010 15:22

Russian Presidential Aircraft: IL-96PU

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 09 Nov 2010 15:26

Johann,I can't give you an answer...about the idea of "Asia".As you pointed out,Asia is too vast for its various entities to have been in sync with each other all along.However,the spread of religions like Hinduism and Buddhism into what is now ASEAN and the Far East has played a major role in uniting disparate peoples.Certainly the arrival and influence of Buddhism marked a turning point in Sri Lankan history.One could perhaps say the same about the Phillipines.

The penetration of militant Islam into Western Europe through large-scale immigration has been underestimated until now,when terror strikes have hit many EU nations in the aftermath of 9/11.It has taken advantage of liberal western democracies and socialist parties who depended upon the immigrant vote.Russia's move towards a closer relationship with EU/NATO is very welcome as it would reinforce European security and economic stability.Cold War attitudes have to be dumped.Russia will be a huge buttress for Europe against Islamic terror and against Chinese expansionism,if the security architecture can be agreed upon.

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 10 Nov 2010 19:07

Russia's arms exports: Farewell to arms, hello to profits

Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport accounts for 85% of the country's arms sales worldwide, with the remainder coming from several companies authorized to deal in arms on the global market. Rosoboronexport was established November 4, 2000 by presidential decree, replacing its predecessors, Rosvooruzheniye and the Promexport company.

With contracts totaling $34 billion, Russia is the second-largest exporter of arms and military equipment after the United States, and it is steadily expanding its presence on the arms market.

Arms shipments to India and China were a godsend for the Russian defense industry at this time. India, which had long purchased weapons from Western Europe and the Soviet Union in line with its diversification policy, was among the few countries that could pay hard cash.

China's relations with the West soured in the late 1980s, and the country desperately needed modern weapons to catch up with the militaries and defense industries of developed nations. It's no surprise that Russian warplanes and air-defense systems became highly popular at this time. Moscow was ready to provide state-of-the-art systems developed during its decades-long standoff with some of the powerful nations in the West.

In the late 1990s, India and China accounted for 80% of Russian arms exports. This imbalance led many in the media to doubt that Russia could sell its weapons on more competitive markets. Some voices predicted a sharp decline in sales after the Indian and Chinese markets reached saturation.

There is every reason to assume that exports of aircraft and air-defense systems will continue to grow. Sukhoi Corporation, the Russian aircraft giant, continues to upgrade its popular T-10/Su-27 Flanker fighter and is testing the entirely new T-50 PAK FA (Future Airborne Complex - Frontline Aviation), due to be released on the global market in the late 2010s.

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 10 Nov 2010 19:09

Rosoboronexport to present Russian defence technology at INDO DEFENCE 2010 EXPO & FORUM
DEFPRO

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 11 Nov 2010 13:31

Russia-U.S. spy scandal caused by intelligence officer betrayal - newspaper

This past summer's spy row between Russia and the United States was the result of a betrayal by a Russian intelligence officer, a leading business daily reported on Thursday.

The scandal broke out in late June when 10 people were arrested in the United States. The spies were freed in a swap deal between Russia and the U.S.

Kommersant journalists carried out an investigation and discovered that a certain Col. Shcherbakov, who had long worked for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), was to blame for the exposure of Russians who were working under cover.

The newspaper reported that Shcherbakov's daughter has long been living in the United States but that the SVR was not too concerned about this.

"It's strange that no one questioned why a person on that level has relatives abroad," an intelligence source told Kommersant. "Such things are strictly monitored even in less secret organizations."

The intelligence service failed to take notice when Shcherbakov refused to accept a career promotion a year before the spy scandal - a procedure that would require him to undergo a lie detector test. This could mean that he actively cooperated with U.S. secret services at the time.

Finally, no one paid attention to the fact that Shcherbakov's son, who had worked for Russia's drug watchdog Gosnarkokontrol, hastily left Russia for the United States shortly before the Russian agents were exposed.

The traitor himself, said a Kommersant source in Russian state power bodies, fled the country three days prior to President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the United States in June.

The reset of Russian-U.S. relations was threatened following the espionage scandal. However, the two countries pledged the espionage row would not affect bilateral ties.

Kommersant quoted a high-level Kremlin administration official as saying that Shcherbakov's fate "cannot be envied."

"He will carry this with him all his life and will fear retribution every day," the paper quoted him as saying.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Nov 2010 08:10

Look like a deep mole has betrayed the entire sleeper cell in US , this will be a body blow to Russia Intelligence gathering activity in US.

Seems like good Intelligence coup by CIA while the CI wing of SVR failed to detect the deep mole , in-spite of many hints in the past.

The SVR is a bad child of the renowned KGB

Something rotten in Russian spy kingdom - source

A retired senior officer of Soviet and Russian foreign intelligence told RIA Novosti that having an officer handling undercover spies in the United States betraying his network, as the Kommersant daily reported Thursday, is "bad news for the Russian intelligence community."

"It means that things are really bad with the internal security at Yasenevo - they are probably keeping themselves busy with the wrong kind of things," said the source who requested to remain anonymous.

The headquarters of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is located just outside of Moscow's southern district of Yasenevo.

According to a story in the Kommersant, Col. Shcherbakov, who was the chief of an SVR department handling all intelligence sources in the United States, was to blame for the exposure of the Russian intelligence officers working under assumed identities.

The newspaper reported that Shcherbakov's daughter has long been living in the United States but that the SVR was not overly concerned about this.

"Any objective observer would say: How come you have allowed a person who had a daughter abroad to be in such a sensitive position?" the RIA Novosti source said.

The officer also said that having someone like Shcherbakov as a traitor was the worst possible scenario for any intelligence agency because he was a mole at the very core of Russian undercover operations.

Strangely enough, the intelligence service failed to take notice when Shcherbakov refused to accept a career promotion a year before the spy scandal - a procedure that would require him to undergo a lie detector test. This could mean that he actively cooperated with U.S. secret services at the time.

In addition, no one paid attention to the fact that Shcherbakov's son, who had worked for Russia's drug watchdog Gosnarkokontrol, hastily left Russia for the United States shortly before the Russian spies were exposed.

The traitor himself, said a Kommersant source in Russian state power bodies, fled the country three days prior to President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the United States in June.

The reset of Russian-U.S. relations was threatened following the espionage scandal. However, the two countries pledged the espionage row would not affect bilateral ties.

The SVR has so far refused to comment on the Kommersant report or any other inquiries concerning the betrayal.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Nov 2010 08:13

Kommersant reveals biography of exposed Russian spook

A respected Russian business daily revealed on Thursday the biography of one of the 10 Russian spies arrested in the United States in June, Mikhail Vasenkov, aka Juan Lazaro.

Kommersant journalists carried out an investigation into this past summer's spy row between Russia and the United States when 10 people were arrested in the United States and then freed in a swap deal between both countries.

Sixty five-year-old Vasenkov was one of the most experienced spies working for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). In the 1960s, the undercover agent started his career as a photographer in Spain and Chile.

"He is a brilliant photographer, this is impossible to imitate. So he made the spy cover from his talent," Kommersant quoted an unknown SVR officer as saying

In the 1970s, already celebrated photographer Juan Lazaro married a Peruvian-born journalist in the New York-based Spanish-language newspaper El Diario La Prensa, Vicky Pelaez. The couple then moved to the United States, reportedly after the SVR's order.

Pelaez and Vasenkov-Lazaro lived in a quiet, upscale neighborhood of Yonkers outside New York City.

"During his work, Vasenkov became so assimilated that he practically forgot Russian," the SVR source said. "He is a high class professional who would never have been exposed if it were not for a traitor."

Kommersant daily said Vasenkov's wife could have been sincere when saying that she had no idea her husband of 30 years was Russian since his biography was absolutely clear for everyone around him.

Numerous friends, university fellows, colleagues as well as his children and wife could confirm under oath any fact from Vasenkov's "life," Kommersant said.

Vasenkov was equally successful in both his roles. As a respected U.S. citizen, Lazaro received three degrees and a PhD in political science. As a Russian spy, Vasenkov once managed to get the U.S. president's foreign trips schedule.

In the 1980s, the Soviet government secretly awarded Vasenkov a USSR Hero badge.Prior to his arrest in June, Vasenkov was ranked a general (ret.)

Vasenkov's career was put to an end when the Russian double agent identified by Kommersant as Shcherbakov revealed to the United States a dossier on the Russian spy ring.

FBI interrogators were so active making Vasenkov confess in working for the SVR, that they had reportedly broken three of his ribs and a leg, Kommersant said.

"These are Iraqi methods," an anonymous retired SVR officer said commenting on the FBI's interrogation methods. "What comes to mind are the videos we saw from Iraqi prisons. They could not outplay him honestly and resorted to impermissible foul play. Yes, they probably always do that in American football, but this is not American football!"

After being deported to Russia, Vasenkov only said to his employers that he was not going to live in this country and was set to move abroad, Kommersant cited SVR officers as saying.

"Everything that happened is not just a betrayal. To hand a dossier on sleeper agents to the enemies is a clear f**k-up. This had never happened before," the SVR source told Kommersant.

The SVR has strongly denied making any comments on the Kommersant article or any details of the spy scandal.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 15 Nov 2010 11:42

Death of a titan.Russia's Kissinger perhaps?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituar ... batov.html

Georgi Arbatov
Georgi Arbatov, who has died aged 87, was for 30 years the Kremlin's chief "Amerikanist"; a man whose knowledge of the West convinced him that Soviet communism was doomed, he remained an enigmatic figure.

As head of the Moscow US and Canada Institute from 1967 to 1995, Arbatov was, during the Cold War, one of the Soviet leadership's most trusted advisers and propagandists. For more than two decades, under Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko and Mikhail Gorbachev, he helped to shape Soviet foreign policy. He was instrumental in luring Brezhnev to the arms-control table and fought with military hawks on both sides to keep him there. Cyrus Vance credited Arbatov with being a key instigator of East-West détente.

At the same time, Arbatov acted as the Kremlin's voice in the United States. From the early 1970s he made frequent visits to America, during which he showed an understanding of American foreign policy, spoke fluent English and managed to create the impression that he dared to speak candidly, even critically, about internal Soviet matters.

As a result, he was given access to forums forbidden to any American in the Soviet Union and became an ubiquitous presence at think tank symposia and television chat shows. He cultivated everyone from politicians to the Reverend Billy Graham, who had famously condemned communism as "satanic", but after meeting Arbatov in Moscow in 1982 announced: "I have met a very wonderful official here."

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Nov 2010 15:22

Russia, India, China to establish close contacts between innovation hubs - Lavrov

The foreign ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) have decided to establish close contacts between their innovation centers to further develop their strategic partnership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

Innovation hubs are already operating in India and China while Russia has recently announced plans to build an innovation center in Skolkovo outside Moscow to facilitate the country's transition to a knowledge-based economy.

Lavrov said RIC had become an important element of building a multi-polar world as it had a solid foundation based on the common interests of the three countries, which are strategic partners.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 21 Nov 2010 15:44

NATO approves new strategic concept

In Rasmussen’s words, the new strategic concept of the alliance will create conditions for the development of a new partnership with Russia.

NATO is not a threat to Russia. It wants strategic partnership, and expects the same from Moscow, says a new concept of the alliance approved at the Lisbon summit.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the concept would promote a new partnership with Russia.

NATO intend to build lasting peace with Russia – final declaration

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 25 Nov 2010 20:17

Russia to cap annual defense budget at 2.8% GDP for next decade

Russia will maintain its defense budget at the level of 2.8 percent of GDP until 2020 to coincide with ongoing military reforms, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

"Starting this year and until 2020, annual defense spending will remain at 2.8 percent of GDP," Medvedev said at a meeting with top military commanders at a training range near the city of Nizhny Novgorod.

"This will help provide troops with advanced weaponry in line with the current state arms procurement program," he said.

The president said a total of 21 trillion rubles ($670 billion) would be spent under this program.

Russia's defense spending, including R&D, would total 487 billion rubles ($16.3 bln) in 2010, 574 bln ($19.2 bln) in 2011, 726 bln ($24.3 bln) in 2012, and 1.16 trillion ($38.8 bln) in 2013.

Medvedev said a substantial part of the budget will be spent on an increase of service pay and improvement of social conditions for Russian servicemen.

"The task, which is in fact no less important and no less complicated, is to solve all social problems facing the military," he said.

Medevedev vowed to triple basic service pay for military personnel starting in 2012 to improve the poor living conditions in the military.

"From 2010, we will start the planned reform of the system of military service pay," the president said. "Finally, we should reach the goal of raising service pay practically threefold."

The reform will involve all categories of military personnel, including contracted soldiers.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 01 Dec 2010 11:27

Looks like new start is in trouble due to Republican majority

Russia to build up nuclear forces if New START not ratified - Putin

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 02 Dec 2010 09:19

Putin says Russian spies were not dangerous to United States

"I have already said and can repeat: their [the agents'] activity did not cause any damage to the Unites States' interests," Putin said.

"As you know, they belong to a special service - the illegal intelligence [nonofficial cover] service; it has its own tasks, which, as a rule, become relevant during crises, say, when diplomatic relations are severed," the Russian premier told King during a satellite interview aired on CNN on Wednesday.

"Thank God, there is no such state of affairs between Russia and the United States today, and I hope there will never be," he said.

"These people definitely deserve respect," Putin said.

"I think no one doubts that all countries, including the United States, carry out intelligence activities," he said.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 02 Dec 2010 12:12

ws/worldnews/wikileaks/8173716/Wikileaks-Vladimir-Putin-warns-USA-to-stay-out-of-Russian-internal-affairs.html

Wikileaks: Vladimir Putin warns USA to stay out of Russian internal affairs
Vladimir Putin has told America to stay out of Russia's internal affairs, angrily deriding a leaked US diplomatic cable that dubbed him 'Batman' and President Dmitry Medvedev 'Robin' as rude and unethical.

Xcpts:

In a combative interview with CNN, the Russian prime minister dropped diplomatic protocol to lash out at US criticism of him and his country laid bare in a series of US diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks.

Mr Putin dismissed US defence secretary Robert Gates' views on Russia as "deeply misled," said that a US decision not to ratify a key US-Russia nuclear arms reduction pact would be "very dumb," and repeated Kremlin warnings that the world would face a new arms race if Nato did not treat Russia fairly.

"When we are talking with our American friends and tell them there are systematic problems in this regard we hear them say 'Don't interfere with our affairs," he said.

"To our colleagues (in America) I would also like to advise you, do not interfere either with the sovereign choice of the Russian people."

The Kremlin had previously laughed off the leaked cables' contents but Mr Putin made it clear he was unamused.

A US diplomat's description of him as 'Batman' and Mr Medvedev as 'Robin' clearly meant to infer that Mr Putin is the more powerful half of Russia's ruling tandem obviously rankled in particular.

"(This was) aimed at slandering one of us," Mr Putin said without humour.

"This is about our interaction which is an important factor for domestic politics. To be honest with you, we did not suspect that this (criticism) could be made with such arrogance with such rudeness, and you know, so unethically."

Though he insisted it was not a threat, Mr Putin reinforced a warning from Mr Medvedev on Tuesday that the West should be sure to treat Russia as an equal partner when it came to designing and operating a new missile defence shield.

Russia has already presented its own proposals for full co-operation on the project to Nato but has apparently received only a lukewarm response so far, angering the Kremlin.

"If our joint proposals get negative answers and there are new threats along our borders Russia will have to ensure her own security," Mr Putin warned.

"New missile, nuclear technologies will be put in place." Mr Putin's interview with veteran broadcaster Larry King came after Mr Medvedev's lacklustre state-of-the-nation speech on Tuesday and contained much stronger rhetoric.

Russia is bracing itself for further embarrassing leaks from WikiLeaks as early as Thursday. It had previously tried to play down the cables that have been made public so far but Mr Putin's patience appears to have finally snapped. US diplomats described him in the cables as an "alpha-dog," adding that Mr Medvedev appeared pale and hesitant.

The strongest US criticism came from Mr Gates, who told a French colleague that "Russian democracy has disappeared" and that the country had become "an oligarchy run by the security services."

Mr Putin remained typically coy about his own political future, saying that he and Mr Medvedev would make "a concerted decision" nearer the time on which of them would run for the presidency in 2012.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 02 Dec 2010 15:52

Transcript of Vladimir Putin's interview with CNN's Larry King

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 02 Dec 2010 23:24

Spies, WikiLeaks & 2012: Putin Live on Larry King

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 03 Dec 2010 14:03

Russia’s Pak tilt

Without doubt, Russia’s thinking towards Pakistan has been undergoing change. Moscow has stepped up political contacts with the Pakistani leadership (civilian and military) and revved up security cooperation. The Kremlin also initiated a quadrilateral format comprising Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan to work on regional economic cooperation (especially in energy and transportation), curbing drug trafficking and on stabilising the Afghan situation. Recently, Moscow suggested that the quadrilateral format could become an adjunct to SCO’s activities.

What explains the new thinking in Moscow on these sensitive salients of regional security that profoundly impact Indian interests? First and foremost, Russia, being a global player, has no alternative but to respond to the US regional strategies apropos of long-term western military presence in Russia’s extended neighbourhood, Washington’s Great Central Asia strategy (aimed at rolling back Russian and Chinese influence) or the Silk Road via Gwadar for transportation of the mineral wealth of the region to the world market, etc.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 03 Dec 2010 15:11

What explains the new thinking in Moscow on these sensitive salients of regional security that profoundly impact Indian interests?

Outsourcing of all Geo-pol decisions by the current leadership GoI to any country which out-sources a pennies worth of trade to them.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 03 Dec 2010 15:34

Russia security interest and challenge lies in this order US,NATO,China.

Eventually Russia will build its relations with Pakistan to balance out Washington ties and influence with India , which probably is a good thing if Russia can some way help in stabilise the AF-PAK problem since narcotics/drugs originating from that region is a big issue for them which has a direct bearing on Russia and CIS region.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 03 Dec 2010 16:33

There is no way that Russia can "balance" relations with Pak in the manner with which the US does,as the US-Paki military relationship is a v.special one,that has as its base a fundamental understanding that the US will never allow India to gain an overwhelming superiority over Pak militarily.It has consistemtly done this in recent years with supplies of arms like the huge AMRAAM deal,upgraded F-16s,attack helos,Harpoon anti-ship air/sub-launched missiles and P-3 Orion LRMP aircraft.Pak is now getting upgraded OH Perry class FFGs and other eqpt.The beauty of US-Paki relations is that earlier the US funded Pak and gave it huge aid ($50B) over and under the counter.It now is going to get India to pay for Pak's US weaponry thanks to Quisling Singh with India buying US weaponry at inflated prices!

The Indo-Russian relationship is too deep to be disturbed by an Russo-Pak interaction.
What Russia is doing is to engage with Pak so that it can understand the direction in which Pak is going regarding Afghanistan's future.If a compromise that would allow Karzai to remain in power and keep the Taliban out then it would satisfy regional states,India as well.
If Pak wants to hog the whole of Afghanistan for itself,then that is another matter and it will inevitably end up on its backside as it did in '71!

Perhaps the time has come,to paraphrase a famous quote from a US officer during the Vietnam War,that "to save Pak we must destroy Pak"
(to save the village we had to destroy it).

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 03 Dec 2010 17:04

^^^ +1 absolutno

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 03 Dec 2010 21:19

Philip , Russia is engaging and building a working relationship with Pakistan for its own self interest and that of its CSTO/CIS partners.

Drug is a major problem for Russia/CIS originating from AF-PAK and for that they need to engage the Pakistani and Afghans link

Plus one never knows how AF-PAK will shape up in the future , its always good to engage Pak due to uncertainties of the future.

Maram · Post by **Maram** » 03 Dec 2010 22:43

Philip wrote:There is no way that Russia can "balance" relations with Pak in the manner with which the US does,as the US-Paki military relationship is a v.special one,that has as its base a fundamental understanding that the US will never allow India to gain an overwhelming superiority over Pak militarily.It has consistemtly done this in recent years with supplies of arms like the huge AMRAAM deal,upgraded F-16s,attack helos,Harpoon anti-ship air/sub-launched missiles and P-3 Orion LRMP aircraft.Pak is now getting upgraded OH Perry class FFGs and other eqpt.The beauty of US-Paki relations is that earlier the US funded Pak and gave it huge aid ($50B) over and under the counter.It now is going to get India to pay for Pak's US weaponry thanks to Quisling Singh with India buying US weaponry at inflated prices!

The Indo-Russian relationship is too deep to be disturbed by an Russo-Pak interaction.
What Russia is doing is to engage with Pak so that it can understand the direction in which Pak is going regarding Afghanistan's future.If a compromise that would allow Karzai to remain in power and keep the Taliban out then it would satisfy regional states,India as well.If Pak wants to hog the whole of Afghanistan for itself,then that is another matter and it will inevitably end up on its backside as it did in '71!

Perhaps the time has come,to paraphrase a famous quote from a US officer during the Vietnam War,that "to save Pak we must destroy Pak"
(to save the village we had to destroy it).

Philip, It might be that Russia is upping the game since we have started diversifying our defense procurement. We have to time line Russo-pak relationship with India's defense procurement diversification. Yes, Indo-Russian relations are strong and India too big a fish for Russia to court Pakistan.Plus when it comes to making payments... TSP are beggals onlee and have to seek bakshish from America...Russo-pak relations are serious non starter, but it might be a ploy being employed in the defense procurement diversification.

JMT...

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 09 Dec 2010 20:32

Severstal and India's NMDC to build $5 bln steel plant in India

Russia's largest steel maker Severstal and India's National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) plan to set up a joint venture to build a $5 bln steel plant in north-west India with an annual capacity of 5 million tons The Indian Express quoted NMDC Chairman and Managing Director Rana Som as saying on Thursday.

"The steel plant will come up at Bellary in Karnataka. It will initially have a capacity of 2 million tons and will be later taken up to 5 million tons," Rana Som was quoted as saying.

The companies will sign a memorandum of understanding to set up the joint venture on a parity basis on Friday.

The charter capital of the joint venture, which will be NMDC's second steel plant in India, could total $1.36 bln.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 10 Dec 2010 03:59

prad wrote:Russia will never fully abandon India for the simple reason that China's power is increasing and it needs someone in Asia proper to counterveil that threat. an India with a decently strong military vis-a-vis China is something that the Russians prefer.

This century - 21st will the century of the demographic geo politics. Without demographics a nation has only so much leverage in the global world.
Russia among the P4 has the least population and the only country with which it can align itself is India with a projected population of 1.7B in this century.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Dec 2010 12:04

I think in coming decades Russia will closely align with Europe as interdependencies grows between the two.

India will continue to remain a trading and dominant defence partner with Russia .

China too will have the same status the defence relationship with China is to essential to checkmate US and NATO

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 11 Dec 2010 10:26

Senator McCain criticizes 'reset' in U.S.-Russia relations

"What we need most now is a greater sense of realism about Russia - about the recent history of our relationship, about the substantial limitations on Russian power, about the divergences in U.S. and Russian interests, and about the lack of shared values between our governments," McCain said in a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

McCain cited the most recent example of a brief conflict between Russia and Georgia, when Russia allegedly invaded a part of Georgia in August 2008 only four months after Washington and Moscow agreed to work on building partner relations.

He also cited continuing disagreements with Russia on missile defenses in Europe, Russia's overwhelming superiority in tactical nuclear weapons, differing approaches to open energy markets, Russia's poor human rights record and "frigid" business climate.

"We need to stop overstating the successes of our cooperation. And we need to begin dealing with Russia more as the modest power it is, not the great power it once was," McCain said.

McCain has consistently held a tough stance on Russia. He has been known to call Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin a "totalitarian dictator" and was quick to side with Georgia during the country's short war with Russia in 2008.

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 11 Dec 2010 16:43

Orissa nuclear plant gift to Russia?
Hindustan Times

As India prepares to welcome Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on December 21-22, one of the nuclear power projects that Russia intends to set up in India may be shifted to Orissa from West Bengal, following protests by local farmers, officials said. After Russia expressed concerns over protests in Haripur, West Bengal, against the proposed project, India has "informally conveyed" that a new site in Orissa can be made available.“We have received this informal proposal and it sounds good,” a Russian official said.

However, government sources said: "Last ditch efforts are on to sort out the problems regarding the Haripur site." The 200 MW Haripur project would require around 5,000 acres. As at Singur and Nandigram, locals are resisting land acquisition claiming fertile and multi-cropped land on which more than 25,000 farmers depend for their livelihood, is being taken away. Here too, the protests, which have been on for the past two years, are led by Trinamool Congress, which controls the east Midnapore zilla-parishad under which Haripur falls.

"It is difficult for me to comment. The party opposing the project is an important partner of the resent union government. It is up to the Centre to decide the matter," West Bengal Industries Minister and CPI (M) politburo member Nirupam Sen told Hindustan Times, when asked if he was hopeful of sorting out the issue at Haripur. But whether Orissa, which has also seen long drawn struggles against land acquisition by companies such as Posco and Vedanta, will support the project, remains to be seen.

Juggi G · Post by **Juggi G** » 12 Dec 2010 19:05

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, Actress Sharon Stone, second left, and actor Gerard Depardieu, left, visit the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg

Vladimir Putin Sings 'Blueberry Hill' & Plays Piano Solo

Sharon Stone Reaction to Putin Singing

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Dec 2010 20:34

Vlad did say in that interview to Larry that he was learning songs in English with his teacher , he sung well though.

Sharon is as young and beautiful as ever .................. WoW

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 13 Dec 2010 00:03

Medvedev visit: India, Russia may sign 8 pacts

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Dec 2010 08:25

India to extend ties with Russia in defence & nuclear fields

India and Russia are likely to sign half-a-dozen agreements, including a long-pending one on co-developing and producing a Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's two-day visit beginning December 21.

Another important agreement will be in the civil nuclear sphere where both sides will seek to fill in more details to the umbrella agreement signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow in December last year. India is willing to shift the Russian nuclear site from West Bengal and a concrete offer in this respect will be made during the visit.

The two sides are also expected to ink pacts in space and trade, the two areas where they have made tentative beginnings but want substantial cooperation to take place.

In particular, Russia will be seeking to address the hesitation by its banks to get involved in a big way.

From the Indian side, there is great interest in developing a long-term partnership in the pharmaceuticals sector.

Delegations from both sides are also slated to hold discussions on greater cooperation in the oil sector. India is interested in getting a stake in Trebs and Titov oil fields where the participation of its companies has been stymied by tender conditions.

Besides these two fields, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission is also keen on taking forward its plans to get involved in the Bashkortostan gas field.

Reliance is interested in setting up a refinery in Russia . . .

Mr. Medvedev and Dr. Singh will also discuss the regional situation including Afghanistan where both sides are keen to avoid a situation that foists a fundamentalist, theocratic regime in Kabul. India will seek to address Russian reservations on the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline in this context and explain that economic development of Afghanistan, especially in Pashtun areas, would get a boost.