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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.
Show me one statement from a Russian official or from a Russian elected representative or Russian bureaucrat or Russian Military/Navy/Air force personnel which supports this contention. As opposed to America, which clearly views India as a balance or insurance policy against China, Russia does not view us through the Chinese lens.
We are taking Russia for granted over here. While I agree we should not be paranoid regarding Russia-Pakistan relationship, we should be sanguine about what Indo-Russia relationship is and what it is not. Russia is doing to China what US is doing to Pakistan. That is supplying weapons and high-tech which will be eventually used against us. Most of the recent Chinese military capability has been built up with Russian help. If Russia faces a threat from Chinese in the near/mid term future, a scenario which is highly unlikely, then it has to be recognized by us and the Russians that the threat was Russia's making. And our response will have to be accordingly.
Currently Russia has lots to offer in terms of S&T, Military Hardware, etc. But in 10-15 years down the line will this be true?
Chris,There is little evidence of significant Russian transfers of arms to pak,unlike the US.Even with Russian arms sales to China,they have slowed down dramaticaly according to most western analysts because of illegal PRC "reverse-engineering",where Russia has not obtained any royalties and the fear of China as potential foe in any major Asian spat.China is not getting any 5th-gen tech from Russia unlike India and Russia is not supplying engines for PRC fighters (JF-17,etc.) because they will compete directly with the MIG-35 in countries which have had long traditional military ties with Russia.
Ideally,Russia would prefer a good three-way relationship between Russia,China and India,for Asian stability,but realism about the Sino-Pak-Saudi-NoKo axis ensures that while Russia and China have on the surface cordial relations,the element os suspicion about PRC intent remains.It is why Russian defence analysts have proposed that Russia provide India with even more lethal weaponry to deal with a future Chinese threat.
Philip, while it true to a certain extent that Russia has given us more capable weapons compared to China, for example SU-30MKI is allegedly more capable that Su-30MKK and it is planning to give us more lethal weapons in the future as compared to China, this has more to do with preventing India's mass defection to European/American arms market then anything else.
India along with certain South-West asian nations, is one of the biggest arms importers of this planet. Russia does not want to loose such a lucrative market to its competitors. To get a sense of the word lucrative, sample this a 0.8 billion dollar deal for a moth-balled aircraft carrier was escalated to some 2 billion dollars plus. Please note that I am not criticizing the deal per see. It is a good deal. Even with the inflated price of 2 billion USD, nobody else will sell us an aircraft carriers. What riles me is the cost escalation.
Where as China is essentially blocked out of American arms and restricted to a large extent from European arms market. China does not have the leverage which we have, w.r.t arms purchases. So we should be clear on why Russia is offering us stuff and what it is offering to the Chinese.
And as you pointed out, Russia is not partnering with China due to the Chinese tendency to steal IP, brand it as theirs and sell it. Or it may be because China is building its own 5th generation fighter. The moot point is, Russia is not proposing to sell the 5th generation aircraft to China, not due to some Indian concerns, but due to its own concerns. If its concerns can be assuaged by the Chinese, it is possible that the Russians might eventually sell the 5th generation aircraft to the Chinese. And staying on the 5th generation fighter, it is possible that Russia might deploy on its 5th generation fighter plasma stealth technology. And by all indicators this technology will not be offered on the Indian version of the PAK-FA. So we need to be careful when we say that Russia offers us the latest and the most upto-date defense tech.
India is going for PAK-FA because of the TINA factor. America will not sell us F-22 and even if it sells us F-35 it will come with restrictive clauses. The third 5th generation fighter is the one PLAAF is building. This will obviously be unacceptable.
We are viewing Russia via the Chinese prism. Which I believe is not being realistic. Russia does not view us a hedge against China. We should view Russia as leverage. To play off the Russian arms suppliers against the European/American arms suppliers. But to view Russia as a partner against China, is a bit of a stretch of imagination. Just as Soviets were neutral in the Indo-China war of 1962, any future Sino-India conflict will likely see russia's neutrality.
Christopher Sidor wrote:We are viewing Russia via the Chinese prism. Which I believe is not being realistic. Russia does not view us a hedge against China. We should view Russia as leverage. To play off the Russian arms suppliers against the European/American arms suppliers. But to view Russia as a partner against China, is a bit of a stretch of imagination. Just as Soviets were neutral in the Indo-China war of 1962, any future Sino-India conflict will likely see russia's neutrality.
Agreed , Russia and Chinese have their own strategic partnership and they both tend to look at US and NATO as its challenger and vice verse , so that is one strategic dimension we cannot ignore , although they do have concerns over Chinese rise which may eventually affect them , but not to the extent they view US and NATO.
Needless to say US and NATO work in tandem to apply its containment strategy against Russia and China.
The only reason we buy Russian arms is because it comes at cost effective prices with no strings and Russia does not mind selling to us advanced weapons because it does not affect its strategic interest , brings them revenue for their MIC and its a captive market , put it simply its mutually beneficial.
Chris,equally important has been Russo-Indo convergence on many global security issues,like Afghanistan for example.The BRIC group,to include S.Africa too,is also seen as a counterweight to US dominance of global economic affairs,in a multi-polar world as opposed to the US viewing itself as lone superpower and globocop.Therefore,strong relations between both countries exist.In any spat with China in the future,Russia would need India as a strong friend as much as we would need it as some form of insurance,at least as a dependable supplier of arms in any crisis.It worked for us in the past and should do so again in the future.
MOSCOW, December 16 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will make an official visit to India on December 20-22, the Kremlin press service reported on Thursday.
Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin told Itar-Tass, “The visit is expected to be unprecedentedly exhaustive and rich in results. The parties are planning to sign more than 15 agreements on the results of the talks and on the sidelines of official ceremonies.”
“The documents cover a wide range of Russian-Indian relations: from peaceful nuclear power engineering to ties in the areas of education and culture,” the ambassador said.
“The talks will focus on the strengthening of innovation cooperation where India has vast experience that might be useful for Russia’s programmes,” he said. The ambassador called for maintaining closer cooperation in such areas as telecommunications, software production, nano- and biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, as well as the creation of technology parks. “It will serve as a basis for mutually beneficial cooperation with India, our long and reliable friend, for years to come,” the diplomat stressed.
The Indo-Russian strategic partnership will be directly impacted by how issues of regional and global politics play out during Dmitry Medvedev's visit.
The Indo-Russian strategic partnership will be directly impacted by how issues of regional and global politics play out during Dmitry Medvedev's visit.
The problem is Russia has receded as an active player in regions that are in India's periphery or in India's national interest. Once upon a time Russia was sitting in Kabul, and Russia also got India's support for sitting there. Now Russia is not even across the border, but far away North of Kazakhstan. So there is not much in overlap between Russia and India in terms of strategic sphere.
India's has high stakes in Central Asia, but we are cut off from the region because of Pakistan.
If Russia wants to get again into the game is to develop the North-South corridor in Asia, i.e. from Russia to India, from Arctic to the Indian Ocean, rather than allow the development of the East-West corridor from China to Turkey, from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, and onward to Europe. If Russia wants to stay in the game, Russia must ensure that China remains dependent on Russia for an overland route to Europe, or through the Barents Sea once the ice has melted in the Arctic Ocean.
If Russia wants keep China in check and friendly, Russia must reassert its primary interests in Central Asia. With SCO, Russia has done one of the most stupid things possible, by giving China an equal stake in Central Asia and a free pass to develop an overland route to Turkey.
The collapse of Pakistan would offer Russia an enormous opportunity to provide India with hydrocarbons through pipelines. This is where Russia ought to be assisting India.
NEW DELHI: Russia sees India as a bright and beautiful "bride", surrounded by many grooms but wants New Delhi to pick the "right match".
"India now seems to be a beautiful, radiant bride. There are so many bridegrooms always around, proposing their kind and.....well, India is Russia's sister, we want a very good match for her. But we are very much against if that bridegroom could deceive one day," Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin told reporters here on Friday.
He was apparently referring to various world leaders visiting India for having partnership with New Delhi.
Asked about how he sees India-US ties, he said his country was not "jealous" of improving relations between the two. He said Russia was also in the process of expanding its relations with the US.
This is just great. We've became a bride now who needs a man for protection. What the hell has MMS been doing?
Russia and India to expand cooperation ( itar-tass )
15-12-2010
December 21-22, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to pay official visit to India. About the upcoming Russian-Indian summit that the two countries are held annually, in an interview with Itar-Tass in New Delhi Elena Protopopov said Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin.
Russia and India are attributed proven strong friendships. What, in your opinion, trends, new trends emerged in the partnership between the two countries over the past few years?
Current relations between Russia and India differ in maturity and diverse, specific, tangible content.Of course, this is the result of fruitful development of our cooperation for over 60 years. But the main feature of recent years - the deepening of Russian-Indian cooperation at a time when the world has undergone tremendous changes. Signed exactly ten years ago, the Delhi Declaration on strategic partnership has brought innovative elements in our relations with India and in international relations in general. Suffice it to say on the established practice of regular annual bilateral summits, each of which gives a powerful impetus to further promote Russian-Indian cooperation.
Both Moscow and New Delhi acknowledge that it is now characterized by a unique degree of mutual understanding and trust. The basis of this phenomenon - the similarity or commonality of the priorities of our countries in economic and social development, domestic and foreign policy, including approaches to peace and security, to the formation of a new global architecture. In essence, the ten-year embodiment of the Delhi Declaration between Russia and India has become a very special quality format, has reached a level of truly privileged strategic partnership. I believe that such a definition might well fill up the international diplomatic lexicon.
Russia is the only 12-th position on the volume of trade among the countries cooperating with India. Why is it that should be taken for the rapid growth of trade?
Indeed, the volume of Russian-Indian trade does not correspond to the potential of our two countries.Nevertheless, in the current year is expected to turnover was 9.6 - 9.8 billion dollars. Another five or seven years ago, he was twice smaller. Although the dynamics of growth of bilateral trade has increased, while Russian exports to India are now dominated by engineering and technical products, neither us nor the Indian side the situation is not satisfactory.
The reasons for this situation is not new. Indian businessmen have not yet got rid of the delusional about the fact that the business climate in Russia is far from conducive to fear for the safety of their investments. Affects the imperfection of Russian legislation, lack of awareness of the measures adopted in the country to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing and other sectors.
A very important role to play was created two years ago, the Russian-Indian Council of business leaders and regularly held bilateral forums on trade and investment - the fourth such meeting, by the way, will be held on December 20. Sure: we have real opportunities to catch and handle the requested task by the two leaders to withdraw the volume of bilateral trade by 2020, the line $ 20 billion, that is, double it again.
Russia is a leading partner of India in civil nuclear energy, but more recently in India passed a law which requires foreign suppliers be liable for damages in the event of an incident at the plant, even many years after its construction. Can this law affect the cooperation between Russia and India in the energy sector?
In this important area we have with India has gained valuable experience, which does not possess any other country that pretends to participate in the implementation of large-scale development program of Indian atomic energy.The foundations of our cooperation laid down in the intergovernmental agreement signed in the late 80's.
In my opinion, of particular importance is the fact that, unlike other potential partners in India, so far only as it were "virtually" hypothetically willing to engage in joint work in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, we are really involved in this case. In the coming days on the pre-launch phase out the first block of the country's largest nuclear power plant Kudankulam, which is being built with the assistance of Russia in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The second block of the same capacity at 1000 MW will be put into operation after about six months.
Bilateral agreements provide not only the expansion of Kudankulam, where it is planned to erect another, at least four (even six), power generators, but serial production with the help of the Russian nuclear power plants at sites in other regions of the country. In total, subject to the "road map" signed in New Delhi in March this year during the visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, during a half decades in the country can be built with our assistance to 16 nuclear power units. This is - a very significant part of what is supposed to implement in order to achieve the designated Indian government aims to increase total production capacity of nuclear power plants by 2020 more than quadrupled - to 20 gigawatts.
This daunting task can be solved only with help from the major attraction of foreign partners. Some of them have already expressed concern regarding the fact that the provisions adopted in the Indian law on liability for nuclear damage may slow or even block the program. These fears, perhaps not unfounded. However, in our opinion, they should not give rise to panic. In any case, we expect that the Indian side will be able to develop and propose specific scenarios and mechanisms of cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy that will not only sustain the level of our cooperation, but also planned to build and strengthen in line with international commitments, in including India. It will fully satisfy the mutual interests of our two countries.
Russia continues to be a leader among other countries in supplying India's weapons. But in recent years, other countries, including USA, France and Britain have stepped up ties with India through the PTS. Could this change the existing level of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation?
India, which steadily gaining economic weight and international authority, becoming a powerful global power, often likened to a rich bride, which may have their preferences or make choices by considering the applicants' hand and heart. Implemented a program of modernization of the armed forces and enhance its defensive capability provides massive purchases abroad of modern military equipment and arms to tens of billions of dollars. Increasing competition for such an attractive market, of course, can affect the chances of Russia to maintain its dominant position.But to say that we have with it is hopeless crowds out prematurely.The main thing that the bride is not deceived.
Russia has something to offer in India to meet its needs in a wide spectrum of modern military-technical products. An example would be conducted by an international tender for procurement of Indian Air Force 126 new multi-role fighters. As far as we know, according to experts, the Russian MiG-35 confirmed its full compliance with the stated requirements for flight and combat characteristics that allow us to count on his victory in a race with other competitors.
It is no secret that India has previously made a bid for the purchase in Russia and the licensed production of their enterprises Su-30MKI fighters, whose total number in the future will be in the air forces of the country about 280 units. Already this implies a long-standing, close the Russian-Indian cooperation in the sector of military aviation. Meanwhile, we have already agreed on the joint creation of a multipurpose transport aircraft.
On the approach and key project - a joint development and production of fifth generation fighter. The corresponding agreement will be signed during the coming days on a visit to India of President Medvedev. And it's not all such examples. They represent a breakthrough on an unprecedented level of integration in the military-technical sector, which provides for a transition from contacts "the seller - the buyer" to full-fledged cooperation partners.It is significant that the latest and secret technology that Russia is ready to share with India in the implementation of such advanced projects, it does not offer any other state.Is not this clearly confirms the extent of trust and deep our relationship with India?
How is the cooperation between Russia and India in space and scientific fields? What are the prospects in the unmanned projects, joint use of the GLONASS system?
During the visit of Dmitry Medvedev required to sign a comprehensive long-term program of scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and India that will run until 2020. Through this program during the final decade sold over 500 joint projects and mutual visits of 4,000 scientists.Russian-Indian contacts in this field really extend from the bowels of the earth to the cosmos.
Sharing the Russian global satellite navigation system GLONASS will be one of the most important contributions to the innovative content of our future plans.It is not just about the production on Indian enterprises need to ground equipment, which will allow effective use of space technologies in order to address pressing economic and social challenges, including the provision of transport or disaster prevention.Russia is ready to provide India with the signals of the GLONASS system.At the same time we are working on other space projects, including - Russia's participation in the preparation of a new Indian lunar mission and the manned flight.
-What do you expect from the upcoming Russian-Indian summit?
The visit promises to be incredibly informative, energetic and productive.It is expected that immediately after the talks, as well as behind the scenes of official ceremonies will be signed over a dozen agreements. They cover a wide range of Russian-Indian relations - from peaceful nuclear energy to the relations in the spheres of education and culture. The key is to focus on building cooperation in the innovative areas where India has a vast experience that is useful for programs implemented in Russia. These include telecommunications, software development, nano-and biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and establishment of technology parks. In many ways, precisely because of this specific content for the foreseeable future, mutually beneficial partnership with India - an old and trusted friend of our country.
In a stern message, Russia today asked Pakistan to do away with terror camps on its soil, which were responsible for spreading a “horrible cancer” of international terrorism from the “Moscow Metro to Mumbai to London”.
“We do want Pakistan to solve its internal problems. We do not want any danger or threat emanating from Pakistan or neighbouring regions of Pakistan. We are against those 40 training camps... from where this horrible cancer of international terrorism is spreading on our earth,” Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin said.
“That is from where its tentacles reach Moscow metro, Mumbai, London metro and other terrorist acts which we have learned about in the last few years. This must be done away with. We hope Pakistan will do so,” he added.
He was asked about the terrorism in the region and if the issue would be discussed in next week’s visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
However, he refused to comment on ties between China and Pakistan and their civil nuclear cooperation, saying the issue of bilateral ties was a sovereign right of any country.
He also mentioned that there were “well-engineered” mechanisms, including bilateral and multi-lateral consultations, to deal with such issues.
He also said Russia wants India’s relation with Pakistan to improve, as it was in everyone’s interest and in the interest of the region.
“We have been supporting your dialogue. We showed full solidarity with India’s anger at the terrible terrorist acts in Mumbai,” he said.
^^^
It seems Russians are also wising up to this con job. Before coming to India or in India lambast the Pakis so as to curry favor with the Indian ruling elite. Say something and do nothing seems to be the motto.
The people who did not do so were the US president and the Chinese officials.
Russia is reviewing the idea of participating in building the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, Russian PResident Dmitriy Medvedev said in an interview with the India Times ahead of a visit to New Delhi, RBK reports.
Answering a question on regulating infrastructure in Afghanistan, Medvedev said, "I think that initiative fully reflects the spirit of the times and the priorities in regional development and cooperation. Russian companies in the industry have the experience, the material and technical base and highly-qualified personnel needed to lay the pipeline", he said.
Medvedev said Russia is also anticipating agreements on the CASA-1000 project which envisions setting up a system to deliver electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and India. "In the future, we feel it would be expedient to give this work a wider range and invite our partners in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to the four-way [TAPI] format", Medvedev said.
Russia has been a natural ally of India and ties between both the countries are expected to deepen with the two day visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India. And business will top the agenda of this trip with tie-ups and deals expected in nuclear power, defence as well as fertiliser and pharmaceuticals. CNBC-TV18’s Rituparna Bhuyan and Mehak Kasbekar file in this detailed report.
Joint development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft, a deal that is expected to be about USD 30 billion will be the big ticket item during president Dimitri Medvedev's India visit. But also on the cards are cooperation in sectors pharmaceuticals, fertilisers and nuclear power
Sources said that Russia is looking at finalizing business deals worth USD 10 billion during the visit. Both the countries are expected to sign a deal to develop two nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu.
..
Sharma said “Indian pharma industry is going to Russia and setting up factories. A list was exchanged a few months ago.”
Both countries also have decided to increase bilateral trade to USD 20 billion by 2015. The Indian government wants to diversify its trade basket to areas like applied technology, IT, telecom and auto components as well as energy.
Sharma explained, “We have set for ourselves a USD 20 billion trade and that target can only be achieved if we are clear how to proceed because present USD 5 billion is too low.”
And just a day before Medvedev's visit to India, six deals were signed today, that included the MoUs between Dr Reddy's and RPharma as well as Shyam telecom and JSC Sitronics. More such deals are likely to be signed during the Russian President's stay in India. Hopefully, the latest agreements between India and Russian Inc will help in achieving the bilateral trade target set for 2015.
New Delhi: Russia on Tuesday asked Pakistan to bring Mumbai attackers to justice and supported India's entry into non proliferation bodies following a high-level meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in New Delhi.
The joint statement issued after the meeting Manmohan Singh and Dmitry Medvedev in New Delhi called on Pakistan to act against those responsible for the carnage in Mumbai during November 2008.
Russia also called for implementation of UN resolution 1267 on Pakistan-based terror groups referring to the UNSC ban on Lashker-e-Toiba's front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its chief Hafiz Saeed.
New Delhi: India and Russia on Tuesday signed 11 agreements, boosting ties in areas like science, the peaceful use of nuclear energy, culture and pharmaceuticals, but a key defence pact on the joint production of a fifth generation fighter aircraft was not announced.
The agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who arrived in India on a two-day visit shortly after midnight on Monday.
Relations between the two countries have blossomed in recent years, with India becoming one of the biggest importers of Russian military hardware.
In 2009, Russia-India trade reached the $7.5 billion mark. The countries plan to raise the figure to $20 billion by 2015.
Q.Are some of these (secret) defence pacts s mentioned by the Russian envoy linked with the FGFA which is why no mention has been made? We'll have to wait for our own janata version of the "W-leaks" for enlightenment!
Russian President Dimitri Medvedev, who is on a 2-day visit to the country, held extensive talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday afternoon on the need to boost international cooperation to fight terror.
He later told the media: “Terrorists are criminals... they should be extradited to be punished. Those who hide terrorists conceal criminals.”
He was replying to a question on how Russia looked at safe-havens of terror operations in the region and how it can expand cooperation with India in dealing with this menace.
"We understand the extradition process is quite complicated but it is important that international cooperation in this field should be in place between all those interested in the fight against terrorism," Medvedev said.
"I believe that no modern civilised state can hide terrorists as law abiding citizens and cannot proceed on the assumption that they will change," he said.
"They are subject to punishment for the evils they have committed. To extradite them we need legal, bilateral frameworks, bilateral agreements between two countries. Once they are in place they should be applied between countries, including countries in this region," the Russian president said.
Russia and India also pledged to share intelligence and work together to fight international terror as the two historic allies signed a clutch of agreements aimed at reinvigorating their relationship.
President Dmitry Medvedev held nearly two hours of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hoping to boost trade and investment in both countries.
With Singh and Medvedev looking on, officials signed agreements to deepen cooperation in the nuclear energy, pharmaceutical and information technology sectors.
During the Cold War, India and the Soviet Union shared a deep relationship, while the United States tilted towards India's neighbour Pakistan. In recent years, India has moved closer to the United States, but its strategic partnership with Russia has endured.
"Russia is a time-tested friend of India that has stood by us in our times of need," Singh told reporters after the talks.
The fight against terror was a major focus of their talks, the two leaders said.
Both countries have been the victim of major terror assaults, with Pakistan-based gunmen killing 166 people in the Indian city of Mumbai in a 60-hour siege in 2008 and Russia suffering a string of deadly attacks by Chechen rebels.
"We are determined to work together to cooperate in information and intelligence sharing and in devising effective counter terrorism strategies," Singh said.
"We have suffered seriously from terror attacks," Medvedev said, adding that the Russian and Indian "law enforcement agencies should cooperate."
New Delhi: India and Russia have finally signed a much-awaited contract that will lead to the joint design and development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), a deal pegged at over $30 billion. The contract, signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit today, has been described by the Defence Ministry as the “biggest Defence programme ever in the history of India”.
Significantly, Russia has also agreed to provide high precision, military-grade navigation signals to India from its GLONASS global positioning system. This will be the first time that the Indian military will get access to such technology as it does not have access to military grade signals from the GPS system because India has not signed the CISMOA (Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement) with the US.
The contract for preliminary design of the FGFA, signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi, will involve the development of a next generation fighter with features like advanced stealth, ultra manoeuvrability and high-technology avionics.
While the IAF is expected to induct 250-300 of these new fighters starting 2017-20, the deal is significantly different from previous purchases as the aircraft would also be offered for export to third countries.
Russia "doesn't give a damn" about the assessments of the country's domestic affairs expressed in Wikileaks's revelations, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
"Actually we don't give a damn about things being discussed in diplomatic circles while assessing the social processes in our country. It is just opinion," Medvedev told students at the Indian Institute of Technology during his official visit to India.
"It is not a secret that when people communicate, they often use very forthright expressions," Medvedev said, adding that if the similar leak occurred in Russia's Foreign Ministry or security services, the country's partners, including the United States might be strongly emotional while reading "warm words about themselves."
Russia ready to use the aircraft in the event of a terrorist attack - Medvedev ( via rian )
"If Russia is subjected to a terrorist attack from a foreign country, and we are confident that this foreign state covers the terrorists, we will defend our national interests, including through the use of the armed forces and other capabilities that exist at the state's security. Here, no one should doubt, "- said the Russian President, responding to questions from students Indian Institute of Technology.
Asking questions to the Russian leader, the students have linked the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 with Pakistan and asked how Russia would have acted in a similar situation.
"Excuse me, I will not bind the relevant acts of terrorism with a particular country, but I will answer as a whole. In some cases we are obliged to protect lives and health by all available means. Our legislation such law gives the president of Russia," - said Medvedev.
A Siberian human rights activist has been committed to a psychiatric hospital for a 30-day examination, in an echo of Soviet-era practices, a colleague said on Friday.
Alexei Manannikov, director of the Vienna-89 human rights group in Novosibirsk, is facing up to two years in prison after being accused of slandering a judge last year.
He called her names on his LiveJournal blog in October, after she refused to consider his appeal against charges of insulting a police officer last year.
The court ruled that Manannikov's mental health be examined. Mannikov went on hunger strike, saying the reasons for the examination were trumped-up.
Manannikov served a three-year sentence for "anti-Sovietism" in the Soviet times and represented Novosibirsk in Russia's upper house of parliament between 1993 and 1995
"People who work in our special services are first of all citizens of the Russian Federation. They are no cannon fodder, and no heroes the state gave as a sacrifice," the Russian leader told the general managers of Russia's three main TV channels when asked about past summer's spy swap deal with the United States.
The Russia-U.S. spy scandal broke out in late June when 10 people were exposed and arrested in the United States. The agents, who worked under cover, were freed in a swap deal between Russia and the United States.
Medvedev said countries that deny having "illegal intelligence" agents, also known as non-official cover (NOC) or deep cover agents who work without diplomatic protection, either "lie or are too small to have serious geopolitical interests."
Obama goes to Xavier's ....................Medvedev goes to IIT
No CISMOA.....................................Yes GLONASS
$3B Defence orders..........................$35B Orders
Super Hyped...................................No Hype
The media loves America . . . the administration / army trusts Russia. I am happy for this
If India is the "swing state" in Asia's future balance of power, as a prominent CIA 2005 report put it, New Delhi is well aware that Russia remains the wild card in the region.
Over the next 15 years, it is estimated that every second overseas nuclear reactor built by the Russians will be in India, while New Delhi could be the destination for more than half of all Russian arms exports in the next five years.
It is no surprise that Russia is pulling out all the stops to court India.
After all, its two main exports - energy and arms - are exactly what India needs.
Demographic problem
The problem for Russia is not just the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a patchy commitment to economic reform after the Boris Yeltsin era, but a declining population.
Russia has experienced periods of dramatic population decline before, from 1917-23, 1933-34 and 1941-46.
Since 1992, and despite the absence of famine or war, Russian deaths have exceeded births by a staggering 13 million.
With 141 million people now, numbers could be as low as 120 million by 2030.
Clear and present danger
While Russia is preoccupied with regaining its influence in parts of eastern Europe, Moscow is also warily watching China's unauthorised movements into Siberia and the Far East.
Beijing is about six times closer to the port city of Vladivostok than is Moscow, which has very weak administrative control over its eastern territories.
Already, an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 Chinese nationals have illegally settled in these oil, gas and timber-rich areas. Beijing is also tempted by Siberia's freshwater supply, given that China already has severe shortages throughout the country.
As Medvedev recently admitted, if Russia does not secure its presence in the Far East, it could eventually "lose everything" to the Chinese.
The point is that Russia will have as much reason to balance against China's rise as encouraging it. As the godfather of geopolitics, Nicholas Spykman, put it, the key is to control the Rimland (Western, Southern and Eastern) Eurasia.
By contrast, China sees the coming regional and world order as a bipolar one defined by US-China competition, with powers such as the EU countries, Japan, India and Russia relegated to the second tier, something that is very difficult for a proud "Asian" power such as Russia to accept.
China should establish "munro" doctrine in its backyard before dreaming of G-2
This is a wonderful article as far as Russian perspective on the Indo-Russian relationship goes. Some meaningful points are
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Shorn of diplomatese, New Delhi would nonchalantly accelerate its strategic ties with Washington which, as India understands, is bent on “containing” China, while Sino-Russian ties are deepening and expanding and the two countries increasingly coordinate their stance on regional and international issues, as the latest instance over North Korea amply testifies. New Delhi expects Moscow not to get flustered by the cut and thrust of U.S.-India ties, which by far outstrip Russia's reset with the U.S. and are of a qualitatively different character.
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The Sino-Russian statement promised mutual support for each other's core interests. The Russian-Indian statement remains silent on the Indian stance on , say, Russian interests in the Caucasus or the Russian stance on India's differences with Pakistan. With regard to the Afghan problem, while there is similarity in the Indian and Russian assessments, the two sides offer nothing in terms of a joint initiative. India faces regional isolation while Russia has an active regional policy with regard to the Afghan problem that even provides for cooperation with Pakistan.
And why is Russia still interested in India
The U.S. has great motivation to catch up with the Russian approach of going beyond a buyer-seller relationship and to enter into defence-industrial cooperation so as to optimally tap into India's whopping defence-modernisation budget of $80 billion through 2022. However, it is unlikely that the U.S. will be able to match Russia in such areas as the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft, access to GLONASS, space-launch vehicle engines or nuclear-propelled submarines.
And the meat of the article is as follows
There is no point ignoring the camel in the Russian-Indian tent — China. The Russian foreign policy is balancing between China and India, whereas India seems to take its rivalry with China very seriously and boastfully and is yet to comprehend that its role as a counter-weight to China is gradually diminishing. Russia understands that China's domestic problems are gigantic and it will have to devote most of its efforts to cope with them.
There we have it in black and white. In fact if one goes through the entire opinion we can roughly come to the following conclusion
1) Russia does not see us as a counter weight to China. So dont expect it not to export its latest weapons, including the future 5th Generation aircraft to China.
2) Russia's relationship with India is based on Money, refer to the 80 Billion USD comment.
3) Since Russia is the only country which is currently offering us the high advanced technology without any strings, we are dependent on Russia.
4) Russia cannot be taken for granted and it cannot be assumed automatically that it will help us in any conflict which Pakistan and/or China.
Please note that the all the emphasis shown above are mine and not of the author or the newspaper which carried this.
Chris,Russia will never sell China its latest military wares,as it mistrusts the Chinese no matter how close or engaging the relationship is.It is why the PRC is developing their own 5th-gen fighter,as they know the help from Russia will be limited.China is fast becoming a serious challenger to Russia as an exporter of military eqpt. especially to developing nations and its traditional markets.The Sino-Pak combine with the Karakorum trainer,JF-17,etc. has met with some success.China's foray into Africa will see that it will win several contracts from African states,ruled by dictatorial regimes in particular with whom the PRC offers its unstinting support as it does to US labelled "rogue" regimes like NoKo,Burma,etc.
However,it is true that India cannot expect Russia to dance to its tune permanently especially if we grovellingly toe the US line on major foreign policy matters and abdicate our legitimate role in Afghanistan,where we ,Russia,the Northern/Central Asian states and Iran all have vested interests in seeing tyhat the Taliban/Pak do not become the overlords or rulers of Afghanistan,that too with active Chinese help.If we abdicate our role here,under US orders,then Russia will have to cut its own deal at some time with Pak to safeguard its own intersts and prevent the spread of Islamist terror further into a fragile region that already has an overdose of Chechen terror.
PS:Pak is to receive its second sqd. of JF-17s and expected to order another improved block of 50+ shortly.
The Indian economy will be in the 5 billion class probably 2.5 times to 2.8 times bigger than Russia. We will have more young people than anybody, loads of qualified NRI program managers et al would have happily re-ensconced themselves in India. Not to mention the thousands of talented individuals who would not have left India in the first place ...
The Indian defence industry would be among the top three in the world.
Ask yourself this question - who developed the fastest supercomputer for India ? Ans. Tata. Who's going to put India back on the top ten list sooner than later? Wipro and perhaps Tata also. The LCA has shown what Indian aerospace can do. Twelve years later it will show more. Much much more.
Even Ilya Kramnik accepts that the land systems market in India isn't that hot for Russia anymore. That's right , who's gonna be developing the FICV? - well private players. How many aircraft carriers will India have in 2022? Atleast 3 with two built domestically. How many will Russia have ? none. Kuznetsov will retire and earlier plans to build six carriers are progressing nowhere.
it's time "analysts" of all colours woke up. India does NOT need to *offer* itself as a counterweight to *anybody*. In the 2025-2030 timeframe I will bet my last dollar it is Russia who will be offering itself as a *counterweight* . India's relation with Russia going forward will increasingly resemble the Soviet Union's relation with India during the cold war only with India in the Soviet Union's position and Russia in India's. India will be the dominant partner. Already the Russkis are sniffing around for partnering in IT and nanotech parks. They know which technologies will prove crucial in the long run and India is a leader in those.
Oh and yes, the one thing that India has really got from Russia - assistance for nuke submarines. well there are others too who would like a look in this area, notwithstanding the standard refrain that "only Russia was willing..." its just that they are waaay over priced. Yes that is correct for the right price everybody's game but as you can see from the various FMS deals, the Yamrikhans are frightfully expensive and the Fransisi's are bloody charging us the price of a new plane in the name of an upgrade.
I will leave you with the words of a rather 'important' US senator:
[T]here is no reason why we cannot work to facilitate India’s deployment of advanced defense capabilities, such as nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, missile defense architecture, as well as India’s inclusion in the development of the Joint Strike Fighter.
On New Year’s Day, a Chinese bureaucrat pushed a button in the northeastern border province of Heilongjiang to inaugurate a monumental oil pipeline between Russian Siberia and the Chinese city of Daqing. Built at a cost of $25 billion, the 1,000-kilometre-long conduit ties the world’s largest oil producer—Russia—and the second largest oil consumer—China—into an ever tighter relationship that has significant implications for energy cooperation and world order.
As a stable neighbour with whom China has already settled territorial border disputes, energy-endowed Russia is a natural choice to invest in for the sake of steady crude oil imports.
It is in Russia’s economic interests that Japan and South Korea also buy maximum possible oil from Siberia the way China is beginning to. Moscow has adopted a long-term market diversification strategy—termed the ‘energy window to Asia’—in a bid to wean itself away from overdependence on European customers. The parallel growth of the eastern Siberian routes to Asia is a deliberate attempt on the part of Russia to correct its previous heavy leaning on the western Siberian pipeline network that is geared towards eastern and central Europe.
In the last decade, Russia and China have aligned to counterbalance the US in Central Asia, East Asia and across major international institutions. The two swallowed considerable nationalistic pride to finalise a territorial concession of 67 square miles in 2008 by Russia to China against the backdrop of a ‘new Cold War’ with the US under George W Bush.
Russians trying to diversify into east asia. china is a major beneficiary of the natural resources in Russia. It helps being neighbours. Russia trying to balance between china and India. Both are dependent on Russia for its resources- oil and defence technology etc.
Russia might play clever and deny some of its important defence technology to china as china will undercut soon with stealing it. Interesting interplay with all 3 countries. currently India is a relatively small player compared to other two but in future it will be different.
"One swallow does not make a summer" and neither will "one senator" make a difference in Indo-US high-tech cooperation.When the US will not even give Britain,its closest ally JSF tech angering the Brits,the chance of it letting India into JSF secrets has as much chance of Pak restraining its terror against India,or the US stopping military aid to Pak! The US is cold-blooded and looks at India firstly as a vast market for its goods-to be sold to us at high prices through its collaborators in govt.,secondly as a huge "mercenary" military power that it can use in its global strategy of adventurism and against China if it can armtwist the Indian politico-babu-military establishment.Thirdly,as a huge source of skilled manpower to further its massive R&D needs.The harsh reality is that when it comes to pak,the US will always view it with a Nelsonian eye and pander to Pak's perfidy against India.That is America's sad track record and unless this attitude changes,Indo-US relations will never grow beyond a point,the high point already reached with the MMS regime.Once this regime falls,it will be downhill at a speed depending upon the new incumbent's love or hate of the US.
This is not to say that relations with Russia are all "hunky-dory".There are irritations-on bth sides,well known.Russia is also burdened with the left-overs of its Soviet babudom and its defence co.s do not have that freedom of independence as US/western ones do and all have to channel their exports through Ros. exports,adding to delays in certain cases.India's embrace of the US beggars Q's too as to how far will this relationship go.We've already seen the abdication of India's foreign policy to the US as far as Iran is concerned.Our watered down independence in foreign affairs has been noted globally and even countries as small as Sri Lanka protect their interest with far greater vigour. What India has to do is to have a joint Indo-Russian geo-strategic "desk" monitoring their common interests,if we are to take the talk about a "special" relationship statement at face value.Afghanistan,Iran,China,etc. and other key issues call for joint ops on every front,diplo,eco,and military.The Indo-Russian rein great measure lationship is one that should be mutually productive and a cornerstone of our foreign policy,a base from which we can confidentally further our own interests globally.
