India-Russia: News & Analysis

[Philip]

I think that Russia is saying that if you want the best high tech with TOT then only it is willing to give India what it needs to obtain strategic equality vis-a-vis China.The US will never give us N-sub/SSBN tech,5th-gen aircraft tech like F-22s/JSFs (top line versions,if at all)-they aren't even giving it to closest ally the UK! While good relations with the US is fine and should take place,we cannot ever become its stool-pidgeon,slave and rent-boy like Pak.Relations with the US should be based upon equality and not servility.

The Russian economy suffers favourably from its vast energy reserves.A close friend,die-hard "running dog of capitalism" recently on a first visit was absolutely stunned with what was seen,the metro,metro,Kremlin museum,the cleanliness,etc.Russia has the largest landmass of any nation and vast untapped mineral wealth.It straddles the oceans of Asia,Europe,and the Arctic,which due to the melting ice-cap,the Arctic Ocean has now become a new lucrative maritime route to Asia and another goldmine in undersea wealth.If Putin and Medvedev can reform Russia to an extent where it becomes a busy workaholic nation,its potential will surpass that even of India and China,the only drawback being its population numbers ,more manpower needed to extract its huge wealth from below.

[Manishw]

^ Philip Ji +1. Add to that manpower can be provided from India also and that we have been friends for decades and have no strategic disagreements but many American fanboys abound in India nowdays.

[Philip]

Yes Manish,but Russia "importing" manpower might take some time.What it should do is to get its existing population gainfully employed fully,generating grwoth and wealth and then make up the shortfall with "imports".In fact apart from friendly India,there are many Slavic people in Eatsern Europe,former Soviet Bloc nations like Ukraine,whose industries still supply major components to Russia.The sudden unpopularity of the Euro in the EU might put a brake upon former Eastern bloc nations wanting to join the EU and the CIS states could work out an alternative economic arranegment somewhat similar to the EU which lgistically would benefit them.
More reports on the Russian Def. MIn's visit.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/internatio ... 814932.ece

In fact, Russia is already helping India acquire nuclear submarine capability. Next March, Russia will hand over an Akula-class attack submarine, Nerpa, to India on a 10-year lease.

Its design has been largely incorporated in India's first indigenously built nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, launched last year.

Cooperation in strategic weapons will be in line with Russia's long-time policy of offering India advanced defence technologies.

“Russia is interested in strengthening India's defence potential without any limitations,” said Mr. Makienko, adding Russia was not prepared to supply China high-end weapons systems that India received.

The fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), which India will build jointly with Russia, is one example of this policy.

“The FGFA programme will enable India to join the exclusive club of nations who have such weapon systems,” he said. “It will give India an overkill capability over China, not to mention Pakistan.”

The FGFA project marks a further shift in Indo-Russian defence ties from a buyer-seller relationship to joint design and construction of new weapons systems

[Manishw]

^ Philip Ji my concern does not stem from the fact that Russia imports manpower from eastern Europe or gainfully employs its own people.It is more that chinese should not be invited at the cost of Indians.Anyway Russia is poised to play a bigger role in not only Europe but Asia too as well.With our mindless jumps towards America we might not ultimately change a strategic partner like Russia to a country which is ambivalent to us.We need it also to Keep PRC in check and have a more meaningful role in eastern Europe and CAR.

[Philip]

Most unlikely that Russia will "import" Chinese in their Eastern territories.They have long memories of historic invasions from the east.

[RajeshA]

May be Russian-Indian Joint Ventures in Mining, Agriculture, Oil & Gas in the Russian Far East could also be a route to import Indian labor into Russia!

[Cosmo_R]

"Russia should help India develop Nuclear triad" (ET news item).

View of top Russian defence analyst,Ruslan Pukhov,Director of the Moscow based "Centre for Analysis of Strategic Technologies",CAST.Pukhov is also a memebr of the Russian advisory board for defence.

Some excerpts:
Russia must help India develop SSBNs,deterrence similar to that of the US,UK......

In case China develos carriers,Russia must provide India with Oscar class SSGNs,naval TU-22M3 Backfires,and even Kirov class nuclear powered type 1144 battlecruisers.

He forgot your favorite the Beriev Be-10 / M-10

[Hariprasad]

Russia To Import 'Outdated' Arms: Minister
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i= ... =LAN&s=TOP

[Austin]

^^^ The headline can be misleading , instead it should be "Russia Not to buy outdated Arms from Local Industry" but then we know its the US based Defence News

You can read the full interview of Defence Minster Serdyukov to Newsweek our here

Interview:Anatoly Serdyukov

[Karan Dixit]

NEW DELHI: The Indian and Russian armies are gearing up to launch a large counter-terrorism combat exercise , ‘Indra’ , at Chaubattia near Ranikhet from next week. India may have had a long-standing defence relationship with Russia, notching up as it has military imports worth almost $40 billion from Moscow since the 1960s, but joint exercises between the two have been far and few between.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 703594.cms

[Austin]

Russian defense minister visits India

"The Russian defense minister will attend the tenth meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military and technical cooperation," Lt. Col. Irina Kovalchuk told journalists.

She said the sides will sum up defense activities in 2009 and outline priority tasks to further develop military cooperation.

"After the meeting the sides are to sign the final protocol defining the basic directions of bilateral military and technical cooperation and specifying ways to implement the current projects," Kovalchuk said.

Serdyukov will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Arackaparambil Kurian Antony.

According to Kovalchuk, the key issues for the intergovernmental commission's consideration are the retrofit by Russia of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier for India's Navy and licensed manufacturing of Sukhoi Su-30MKI Flanker-H and T-90S tanks in India.

The Russian-Indian commission's agenda also includes cooperation in developing and manufacturing a fifth generation fighter and a multipurpose transport aircraft, as well as joint production of BrahMos cruise missiles.

[Philip]

Cosmo...Sigh! None so blind that cannot see! We are spending $10 Billion on flying white elephants called "Globemasters",but can't even buy a few amphibians.C'est la vie.I was reading very recently about the importance of the Car Nic air base,which the tsunami devastated,we lost 160+ personnel and their families and it took some time before the airstrip was made functional again.Had we had Beriev amphibians,we could've started relief work immediately afterwards.I cannot understand how blind our planners are to the fact that to an amphibian,any point on the coast is an "airfield",the sea too for that matter.The aircraft can land on lakes,backwaters,etc.as well.Perhaps PM Putin could recommend them to our govt. as he flew one during the Russian forest fires water bombing the flames!

[Austin]

Russia To Import 'Outdated' Arms: Minister

Philp , it is not the case that all is well and great in Russian Defence Establishment , I will just post what I have mentioned in other thread since this is relevant to the news

It is true all is not well with Russian Defence Establishment and its in a dire strait lacking innovation and accountability Yes the new DM Anatoly Serdyukov has been brought in by Kremlin to reform the hard nut Russian Defence Establishment and clean it of corruption and business as usual attitude by old players.

He has been given a free hand to reform top bottom and he has taken many to task much to the disliking of few senior top officials in the military.

As Medvedev has mentioned last week there is hardly any innovations in Russian military and manufactures are just perfecting Soviet Designed system.

For eg there is hardly any innovation in S-400 system and is a derivative of S-300 and has been criticized for higher power requirement.

The new DM has admitted to weakness in Russian manufactured system and has looked to friendly western country namely French and Italy to import key system for eg TI for T-90, French Felin Future Army system and big ticket item like Mistral much to disliking for Russian USC , similar from Italy more than thousand IVECO M65 armoured vehical to be lic built over Russian Tigr.

The message from DM is simple shape up be competitive and innovative else we will import it from outside and he has started kicking hard on local manufactures where it hurts them the most.

Much of the reform is concentrated around the lean and mean army with rapid mobility concept and system either imported from friendly Europe or with JV with friendly countries like India,france,Italy,Germany

[RajeshA]

Published on Oct 07, 2010
India flags delays in delivery of Russian defence systems: PTI

Defence Minister A K Antony and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov, who met here over the last two days, also decided to take forward the joint fifth generation combat jets (FGFA) and mutirole transport aircraft (MTA) projects over the next 10 years, under which India would get about 250 to 300 of FGFAs and 45 MTAs.

They signed a protocol for furthering of defence ties between the two nations and continuing till 2020 the military technical commission, a unique arrangement, that the two nations have.

Published on Oct 07, 2010
India set to buy around 300 5th generation fighters from Russia: Ria Novosti

India is planning to buy up to 300 co-produced fifth-generation fighters and 45 utility transports from Russia, the Indian defense minister said on Thursday.
"Over the next decade, Russian-Indian military cooperation will focus on two projects: a utility transport and a fifth-generation fighter," said Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who is on a two-day visit to India.
The jointly-produced fifth generation fighter will not be a copy of the existing Sukhoi T-50 prototype ordered for the Russian Air Force, but will be a separate creation, a high-profile source in the Russian delegation in New Delhi said.
The countries are planning to unveil a one-seater and a two-seater version of the fighter by 2015-2016.
The costs are planned to be shared by the two states fifty-fifty.

[Paul]

X-posted from the TSP thread

Johann
Post subject: Re: Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): Aug 09, 20
PostPosted: 30 Aug 2010 03:36 pm
Offline
BRFite

Joined: 01 Jan 1970 12:00 am
Posts: 1210

No Johann, I still think it is in Indian interests for Russian influence to be rolled to pre-1700 AD borders.

I am probably the only person in this forum who thinks Russian and British imperial interests complimented each other in the great game. British imperial interests were secured through sea routes and Russian through the land routes.

There's no question that the mutual competition egged each of them to push harder and faster, and there's no question that the dynamics of the Great Game were the biggest single factor in the support for Pakistan's creation.

Hence they both need to be rolled back to the era when there independent Khanates in Turan...Most BRFites are mistaken if they think Rus transfer in Submarine and aircraft technology is synomous with Indo-Russian convergence of national interests.

Not sure about this - realistically when one looks forward the only real problem is the strategic nature of Sino-Russian cooperation given India's problems with the PRC. I'm not sure that a Russian collapse in the Far East would do anything other than strengthen the PRC.

A loss of Russian influence in Central Asia would also be a great thing for Pakistan - In the 1990s Russian border guards were the only thing that stopped the Deobandis and the ISI from rolling in to Dushanbe.

Tomorrow (and perhaps even today) the loads of Chinese money and the PLA might do in a pinch, but I don't think it is sufficient, which is why Russia and China form the heart of the SCO, and that is unlikely to change. The only country that has the ambition and the cultural ties that could allow it to play a similar role is Iran, but they have enormous internal problems (like an ideology that places getting involved in Shia areas of the world ahead of Farsi/Dari speaking areas) to sort out first.

Russian public is probably looking in the wrong direction if they think Chinese demographics is the biggest existential threat to their existence. Just wait for a few decades for the turks to get going......

Russians are actually most worried about the internal demographics of Chechens and Muslims from the Caucasus, as well as large numbers of Muslim immigrants from Central Asia - there is shift in public opinion from retaining Chechnya at all costs to preserve the federation to getting Chechens out of Russia.

The people who will have to worry the most about Turkish demographics are the EU. As for Turkey's political ambitions they will probably come at the expense of Iran which has spent the last 30 years trying to win over the Arabs with only very limited success outside the Shia minority.

In most ways Russians still benchmark themselves against the United States, and thinks of success and failure as a competition with the Americans, rather than the PRC, or Iran, or Turkey or any of the other rising powers. Perhaps that will change in coming decades...

Johann, Why don't the Brits and Roos slug it out in the mediterranean and leave Asia to the asians...given time we will work out a suitable compromise with the Chinese. After all, this is what the French and the Germans have done after centuries of fighting wars. Denial of access to the mediterranean remains a cornerstone of British foreign policy for the last 200+ years.

I was always puzzled for many years as to why Russia did not support Indian revolutionaries who escaped to Tashkent in the aftermath in the 1857 revolt. It is more surprising given that Russia and England fought a bitter war in the Crimea in 1853.

The only conclusion that I can draw is that these two imperial powers decided to localize their differences and prevent them from spilling in other regions.

Hence the Great game as described in Wiki

From the British perspective, the Russian Empire's expansion into Central Asia threatened to destroy the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire, India. As the Tsar's troops began to subdue one khanate after another, the British feared that Afghanistan would become a staging post for a Russian invasion of India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game

is a big sham perpetauated on Asia. The great game is actually nothing more than a smokescreen to Keep Asia’s destiny from being decided by Asians.

[Johann]

Why don't the Brits and Roos slug it out in the mediterranean

Well they did - that was what the Crimean war was all about. Today Russia continues to maintain its relationship with Syria while the United States supports Israel, with Lebanon in the middle. Something similar played out when NATO finally decided to intervene in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

There are some who suggest that the British fears of the Imperial era that led to their obsession with the "Great Game" were deliberately stoked by the Russians to provoke overstretch - i.e. to push the British in to concentrating their efforts on India, while the Russians took what they *really* wanted, which was Constantinople, and the gateway to the Med. I think there may be merit to that.

Russia's problem from the 19th up to the early 20th century was that Britain and France had historically been on the same page when it came to the question of the Ottoman Empire - France was in fact the oldest and most reliable Western ally the Turks had.

As for the Russians and the war of 1857, they didn't reach Tashkent until 1865, so it was not a choice they really had to face. Even if the Russians had got there 20 years before that given the fact that Russia, like Britain were busily colonising the Muslim world I don't think that either of them had an interest in supporting up the spirit of anti-Christian/anti-colonial jihad in the region given the restive populations they were faced with.

However this would have happened *even* if the theatre had been outside Asia, and in the Mediterranean. Unlike the 20th century when European powers supported subversive domestic movements against each other on a major scale (until the Germans in the WWI who used it against both Britain and Russia, most famously with Lenin, but also in India), the rules of the 19th century were different. It was perfectly legitimate to fight wars, but covert action was seen as both morally suspect as well as destabilising of the international system.

The Soviets in the 1920s onwards did support Indian revolutionaries, as they supported revolutionaries everywhere - of course by then the character of Indian anti-colonial activity was far more secular-nationalist given the penetration of Western-style education, so there wasn't much danger there even though many of the individuals they supported were Muslims. One of the things the Soviets had experience with in places like the Caucasus (especially Azerbaijan) was using traditional Arab-Islamic terms like jihad, while attempting to shift its meaning from a religious term to a temporal, political (usually socialist) one. Many Iranianian revolutionary groups (later bloodily supressed by Khomeini) like the MKO continued that tradition.

In the Soviet era, oil also changed many calculations. The Russian interest in southern Iran, and later the Arabian Peninsula became far more than a feint. Admiral Gorshkov's vision, endorsed by the Politburo placed great importance on a strong Soviet presence in the Indian Ocean, rather than the usual Russian emphasis on European, Polar and Pacific waters.

is a big sham perpetauated on Asia. The great game is actually nothing more than a smokescreen to Keep Asia’s destiny from being decided by Asians.

Let me be provocative and ask whether Asia is a term and an idea invented by Europeans as catchall for everyone who was east of them. Does everyone from Turkey to Japan share some special bond with each other and no one else?

If we go by geological maps there is no justification for either 'Europe' or 'Asia'.

If we go linguistically, India and Europe have more in common with each other than with Central and North East Asia.

I do not subscribe to Huntington's "clash of civilisations" theory but if we attempt to map self-aware, pre-colonial civilisational identities, we have different poles in the Indian Subcontinent, East Asia, Persia, etc with areas of overlap where you have all sorts of cultural fusion.

Given this web of complexity It does seem to me that the only thing that has produced and sustained the idea of "Asia" in the last 250 years is a period of total Western hegemony which is now giving way to a more global and multi-polar system.

I don't doubt that it is possible for the GoI and PRC to manage their differences, but I think the example of France and Germany that you cite shows how pradoxical that process is. French and German rivalry was it most intense when both countries stood largest on the world stage because the stakes were so much higher, and because nationalism was a new and raw thing, not yet tempered by the realisation of what happens when you take it to excess.

Still the irony is that peace has come with relative decline. European peace has been underwritten by *enormous* shared problems - the rise of the superpowers, the loss of colonial empires, the common acknowledgement on both left and right on the need for democracy and social justice for the working classes, common problems in controlling massive waves of illegal immigration, etc, etc. A common civilisational identity was not enough to prevent conflict before that, even when as in the case of Britain and Russia conflict only very rarely turned in to actual war.

Both India and China have experienced modernity for long enough now not to let popular nationalism run away with itself, although I'm less sure about China. Howevever in the medium term when the shared problem of anti-Colonial struggles are fading memories, and both countries are growing in stature and power both regionally and globally I would say conflict is likely to intensify rather than lessen. There is already a "Great Game" between India and China as they compete for influence in their shared periphery, however much both governments downplay it in order to prevent popular nationalism from escalating the conflict. Like the competitions of the 19th century between Western (I include Latin America here) this is driven to a great extent by competition for resources and commercial opportunity. Is this business or personal? I think both would like to keep it business, but the CPC strays over the line far more often than the GoI. I think thats not surprising given how militarised foreign policy decision making is, and how few ideological ties bind the one-party state to the people now that socialism is dead.

[Austin]

Executive order awarding state decorations to the crew of a Tu-154 plane for courage and heroism

Dmitry Medvedev signed Executive Order On Awarding State Decorations to the Crew of a Tu-154 Aircraft of Mirny Aviation Division of AO ALROSA, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Pilots Andrei Lamanov and Yevgeny Novoselov were awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for their courage and heroism in an emergency situation. The other seven crew members were awarded the Order of Courage.

The passenger Tu-154 aircraft with 72 passengers and nine crew members on board was flying from Yakutia to Moscow on September 7, 2010 when its electricity supply, navigation equipment and radio communications failed at an altitude of more than 10 kilometres and so it was forced to make an emergency landing at a military airfield in Izhma, Komi Republic (Northwestern Federal District), not designed to handle large aircraft and in recent years used to serve helicopters only. No one was injured during the landing and the plane received only slight damage.

[Austin]

Russia, USA are doomed to remain potential enemies

[Suresh S]

Russia remains and has been since independence India,s best friend and ally. There is general lack of understanding about things russian among the world in general.

Russia,s achievements over the centuries in science , technology, military affairs and cultural affairs is not given it,s due importance , one reason being west,s dominance over the preceding few centuries and it,s antipathy towards the so called "evil empire".

From Ivan the great to Ivan the terrible, from catherine the great to peter the great and from vladimir lenin and Josef stalin to vladimir Putin, Russia has had great leaders and despots in equal measure.

The bravery and fighting spirit of it,s people and their sacrifices are the stuff of legend during the great patriotic war during which almost every Russian family lost a family member. Never in the history of the human race so many people have died from one country in a war.

The extremely high soviet casualties figures are ( according to some estimates as many as 28 million )not given there due publicity due to the quite nature of the russian people and lies perpetrated by the western powers. The United states enterd the war on continental Europe when the back of the german army was already broken. The second world war was mainly won due to the extraordinary sacrifice and bravery of the Soviet and Russian people. This historical fact is not fully appreciated by the world especially the western world.

During the cold war soviet union was able to compete with the western powers inspite of the fact that the best and the brightest people from the entire world were available to them in the technological race. It is testimony to the brain power of the russian people ( I am using it here to mean the all 15 republics).

In my own speciality very important Russian contributions are simply not known even by the surgeons doing the procedures. The stapling devices used in abdominal surgery so ubiquitously now were invented in Russia. The use of stent grafts to treat abdominal and other aneurysms now routine in many parts of the world, the first procedure was done by a russian surgeon , the fact is almost unknown to the medical world while others bask in the glory of achievements which rightly belong to the russian people.

I would apperciate if mods will let this important thread begin and input from many knowledgable people on this board like shankarosky, philip, Austin , Dr shiv and many others will be appreciated.

With India at cross roads and lot of discussion going in the govt and media regarding making friends with the western world especifically USA, It is the right time to remind everyone who our real friends are and also appreciate the rich Russian culture and history which many are not aware of.

[Austin]

Russia resets with U.S., sprints with China

[Austin]

The New Nobility - Discussion with Author

[Austin]

Russia, India to hold joint antiterrorism drills

Russia and India will conduct joint antiterrorism exercises on Indian territory on October 15-24, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Russia is sending more than 200 troops from its 34th mountain brigade, based in the North Caucasus, to join the Indian troops in the INDRA 2010 drills.

"During the upcoming exercise, the Russian and Indian military personnel will form a joint task force, and plan and carry out a series of mock antiterrorism missions in the mountains," the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian troops will be equipped with lightweight Permyachka Infantry Suits, which protect at least 80 percent of the body surface from small-caliber bullets and low-speed shrapnel.

Some pics of Permyachka Infantry Suits
link

[SriSri]

Indo-Russian Defence Trade between 2002-2013 Estimated at USD $25 billion

Leading Russian think tank Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) published in its Yearbook 2010 the estimates for Russian-Indian Defence trade for the periods 2002-2009 and 2010-2013. CAWAT also labels Russia as India's top defence partner in this time period -- as reported by RIA Novosti.

Listed below are the highlights of this report:


* 2002-2009 - Russia delivered weaponry worth an estimated $9.87 billion to India, which was nearly 60 percent of the Indian arms imports [$16.47 billion]

* 2010-2013 - Russia will remain India's top arms supplier with estimated deliveries worth $15.26 billion which is roughly 44.7 percent of the Indian arms imports ($34.1 billion)

* Existing Russian-Indian military cooperation program through 2010 features up to 200 projects worth about $18 billion. Current arms exports contracts include the delivery of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier with at least 16 MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier fighters, the Smerch MLRS, and licensed production of T-90 tanks in India.

[Austin]

^^^ Thats a huge sum , Lets hope the money they spend in the next 15 years builds a capability and infrastructure to be independent in developing most defence equipment in India and we do not have to depend on any foreign country to develop weapons.

[Austin]

Commitments For Russian MS-21 Approach 200

MS-21 managed to get more customers with a paper plane then Sukhoi managed to get with Superjet

This is a new approach that Russian civil aircraft industry is developing learning to be competitive Internationally by approaching the market with a very competitive design and collaborating internationally with risk sharing partners.

It is not easy to climb up the ladder in the civil aviation market which is so dominated by Boeing and Airbus.

One interesting aspect of MS-21 design is the extensive use of composites which constitutes 40 % by weight for the aircraft , although the leader is Boeing with its 787 Dreamliner with 50 % composites usage by weight.

Mostly likely the MTA too will end up using high composites.

[shukla]

Can India, Russia be strategic partners
Ashok Sharma - ExpressIndia.

[Ambar]

This ain't looking good. More trouble in Chechnya . In a situation that sounds eerily similar to Delhi 2001, Chechen Islamic militants have taken hostages inside the Chechen Parliament building.

The parliament in the Russian republic of Chechnya has come under attack, Russian news agencies report.

The circumstances are unclear but there are reports of fatalities at the building in the capital, Grozny.

Local news agencies report shooting taking place in or near the parliament, with one report suggesting a suicide bomber had attacked the building.

Other reports suggest hostages may have been taken. The violence is continuing.

The Kremlin is struggling to contain a growing Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus, a strip of poor, ethnically mixed provinces along Russia's southern border.

The Kremlin had declared victory in its battle with Chechen separatists, but analysts say continuing shootings and bombings over recent months show Moscow has failed to stamp out the insurgency.

We have seen the chaos,confusion,carnage and massive casualties in Russian hostage situations, i just hope the spec ops succeed this time in wringing the necks of those terrorists with minimal damage to the hostages.

[ajit_tr]

Militants seize Chechen parliament, take hostages

[Philip]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... nours.html

Russian spies given top Kremlin honours
A group of undercover Russian spies exposed by the FBI in June have been awarded top Kremlin honours.

[Austin]

Six dead in attack on Chechen parliament - Kadyrov

Six people were killed when militant fighters attacked the parliament of Russia’s republic of Chechnya on Tuesday morning, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said.

“At around 8.45 am three militants opened fire at parliamentary security guards,” Kadyrov said, adding that two police officers and a parliamentary administrative manager had been killed.

He also said three militants were killed in the ensuing special operation, which took place after the building had been evacuated.

Investigators say 17 people, including six police officers, were injured.

A police source earlier told RIA Novosti that the attack began when a vehicle carrying terrorists drove in with cars carrying lawmakers.

He added that a suicide bomber had blown himself up while the other militants headed toward parliament.

[Chinmayanand]

Who's is behind the unrest in Chechnya ? Is it the arabs or the US or both ?

[Carl_T]

Considering US (BO) policy towards Russia, it is unlikely to be the US.

Arabs could be. But the unrest in Chechnya has been on the rise for the past two years, this is another data point.

[Johann]

The Russians do not run Chechnya any more, Ramzan Kadyrov does as a kind of independent local contractor. The situation in neighbouring Russian republics like Dagestan has gotten worse as things have gotten more under control in Chechnya - my guess its spillover from those places.

The Putin era policy, not so different from the GoI's policy in J&K with the Abdullahs, or the UK with the Sinn Fein is to let local thugs deal with local thugs of their own community.

The fact is the only time the North Caucasus has been really quiet in 200+ years of empire is after Stalin deported the Chechens and others to Central Asia. The Caucasus have always been an unstable and violent sort of place.

Russian public attitudes today are so negative to Chechens in Moscow and elsewhere they'd be happy to get rid of Chechnya if it meant getting rid of the Chechens, who tend to form gangs and terrorise anyone else around, whether its in the black market, or schools, or even amongst army conscripts in military units the barracks.

[Austin]

Medvedev says NATO has no aggressive intentions toward Russia

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that the opinion of many of his countrymen that NATO was hostile to Russia was "in many respects a mistake."

"Relations between Russia and NATO have always been difficult," Medvedev said at a meeting with participants of the 46th Munich Security Conference in Moscow. "We have a certain historical background."

He agreed with conference participants that in Russia "there is the sense that NATO is some kind of aggressive element."

"This is in many respects a mistake," he went on.

"What is also evident is that Russia is often perceived by parts of the Western world, by ordinary people, as a country where there can be no democracy, whose leadership always adheres to authoritarian principles," Medvedev said.

[Philip]

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.

Interestingly,there are several anthropological and linguistic studies that have been made regarding Indo-Russian roots.One interesting fact that the "Gujjar" tribe of Gujarat originally came from Russia.Regarding Adm.Gorshkov and the IOR.I'm not so sure that the Russians desperately wanted a "base" in the IOR.I think that they were happy to have a powerful Indian Navy to keep the SLOCs open.Adm.Gorshkov loved the IN though and saw to it that we had what we wanted.He was particularly pleased with the raid on Karachi in '71,where Indian Osa class missile craft were towed to Karachi and then let loose upon the PN.He later told the IN that "you have taught us a lesson".The Soviet navy was in my opinion more concerned about its SSBN fleet's capability to remain undetectable to the USN/NATO forces and the main theatre's of operations were the Atlantic/GIUK gap,The Arctic and the Pacific oceans,along with ops in the Meditt.This was its top priority as barring the Pacific,its subs had to sail though numerous choke points like the Baltic,Dardanelles,etc.From the IOR continental US was too far for its sub-launched missiles.Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam was far more important than establishing any base in the IOR.

The Soviets could've put a lot of pressure upon India to do so-allowing the Soviet navy permanent logistic facilties at Vizag,by offering a lot of advanced hardare beyond what was sold during the CW.The IN was (say some sources) offered an N-sub long before the Chakra arrived .Indira Gandhi also never wanted Indian soil to be used by any foreign power,unlike the current dispensation who appear to be straws in the wind!

[Austin]

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 ?

[Juggi G]

Better Relations with Russia
Emerging Global Challenges as the Catalyst
by Harsh V. Pant
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions

[Austin]

Uncertain World: Russia’s Asia challenge

[Prem]

Russia successfully tests ballistic missiles
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... siles.html

The successful test launch of the Bulava or Mace missile from a nuclear-powered submarine submerged near the country's border with Finland was seen as a major breakthrough by defence experts who were beginning to fret that the costly project would have to be scrapped. A spokesman for the Russian defence ministry said the missile, launched early on Friday morning, had hit its target more than 3,000 miles to the east in Russia's Far East and was "up to standard". The Kremlin has boasted it can pierce any missile defence system in the world. But progress has been far from smooth since tests first began in 2004 and the missile has failed seven of the previous thirteen trials, angering the military's top brass and embarrassing the Kremlin. The next test will take place in December. It will have to pass a further six such tests before a new generation of nuclear submarines is armed with it.

[Austin]

Russia's Medvedev signs nuclear power deal with Vietnam

Under the deal, Russia will initially build two power units in Vietnam with a capacity of 1.2 GW each. Overall, Vietnam plans to build eight nuclear power plants in five provinces by 2030, with a total capacity of 15 GW, or 10% of all electricity produced in the country. Each NPP would have from four to six generating units.

"This is a very important project, a large project designated for long use. In the final account, if we implement the ideas stipulated in the project and build the capacity designed for the nuclear power plant, the project will capture a considerable part of Vietnam's electricity market," Medvedev said after the signing ceremony in Hanoi.

"We believe that the project will allow Vietnam to develop as a modern and independent state, which does not only extract and refine oil but also uses other sources of energy. And it is very important in a contemporary world to be an independent, strong and modern state," Medvedev said.