Bharat Rakshak

Russia plans to boost annual defense spending by 59 percent to almost 3 trillion rubles ($97 billion) in 2015, up from $61 billion in 2012, the head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

“Targeted national defense spending as a percentage of GDP will amount to 3.2 percent in 2013, 3.4 percent in 2014 and 3.7 percent in 2015,” Defense Committee chairman Vladimir Komoedov is quoted as saying in the committee’s conclusion on the draft budget for 2013-2015.

The draft budget will come up for a first reading in the Duma on Friday.

The spending proposals provide financing to “re-equip units with new weapon systems, military and specialty equipment and provide housing and social safeguards for service members” among other issues, Komoedov said.

For Russia, the dilemma is summed up in the prices of oil and gas, and the role those two commodities have come to play during the Putin era. When Putin first took office in 1999, oil and gas earned less than half of Russia’s export revenue. Now that share is more than two-thirds. In part this increase is due to rising prices and production, but Russia has also deindustrialized under Putin. According to a report in Business New Europe, this year the country gave up the effort to maintain its own auto industry, and stopped producing the Lada sedan. The company that manufactures the iconic AK-47 rifle went bankrupt, largely because of its failure to develop a more modern version of the Kalashnikov. And a new civilian passenger jet promoted by Putin as an answer to Boeing and Airbus flew into a mountainside during one of its first demonstration flights, killing the deputy transport minister of Indonesia and forty-four others and throwing its future into question.

Now the energy industry itself is declining. From 2000 to 2004, Russian oil and gas production grew by an average of 7.5 percent per year as private companies flourished and foreign investors bought in. But following Putin’s political crusade against magnates like Mikhail Khodorkovsky and mistreatment of Western oil firms, the average increase dropped to 1.4 percent between 2005 and 2011. Foreign capital needed to increase production will be difficult to attract, given Putin’s record, and the development of large new oil and gas reserves in Europe and the United States has further dimmed the prospect for export revenues in the next few years.

At the same time, the Russian government budget has become more dependent than ever on oil and gas. Energy revenue pays for more than half of government spending—and that spending has mushroomed from fifteen percent of GDP four years ago to nearly a quarter this year. Putin has compounded the problem by promising vast new outlays: a doubling of the wages of doctors, police, and teachers; higher payments to families; and $790 billion in new defense spending.

Russians now commonly measure the state of the economy by calculating the price of oil needed to balance the state budget. In 2008 it was $55 a barrel; in 2011 it was $100. Now experts guess that it would take an average price of $117 to cover this year’s planned spending, and somewhere between $130 and $150 a barrel to meet Putin’s promises for the next several years.

Within weeks of beginning his new mandate, with oil prices well under $100, Putin was already hinting that the budget would be scaled back. The question was whether he could avoid the swelling of public unrest that austerity might provoke. Two major polls, by the Pew Global Attitudes Project and the Associated Press, released in May and July, showed that while Putin remained relatively popular among the general population, support for him in Moscow and other big cities had plummeted—and the demand for political freedom, and support for ongoing popular protests, had expanded.

Backed by eighty percent of the population as recently as 2008, Putin now attracts overall support of fifty-eight percent, reported the AP—and only thirty-eight percent in Moscow. Since 2002, according to Pew, “five of the six measures of democratic freedom tested by the Global Attitudes Project have witnessed double-digit increases in terms of the percentage of Russians describing them as ‘very important.’” Only thirty-one percent say they are satisfied with the state of democracy in the country—and sixty-four percent describe the economic situation as bad. A solid majority of fifty-eight percent said they supported the post-election opposition street demonstrations.

At midyear, Putin still looked relatively strong, because the largely middle-class freedom protesters gathering in Moscow had not been joined by blue-collar workers, and rural areas were not as restless as the cities. But with the Internet’s stream of uncensored information rapidly growing, that seemed unlikely to last. According to the AP, the percentage of Russians using the Internet daily has grown from twenty-two to thirty-eight percent in just two years.

Kudrin’s report outlined several scenarios for the future, chief among them “modernization through dialogue between the government and opposition,” stagnation, and a “chaotic radical transformation of power.” The director of the study, Mikhail Dmitriev, of the Center for Strategic Research, was quoted by the news agency RIA Novosti as saying that “the most likely scenario is mounting pressure on protests” by the regime, “eventually resulting in public backlash and sudden
transformation of power.”

They have been autocratic, resistant to the spread of freedom, occasionally belligerent toward their neighbors, and increasingly prosperous. They have consistently joined together in order to block Western initiatives in the UN Security Council and to defend dictatorships like Iran, North Korea, and Syria.

After Putin’s controversial election as president in March, Obama, overlooking the growing street protests in Moscow, invited him to an early meeting at Camp David (which Putin later cancelled)

The GOP candidate described both countries not as unstable autocracies but as dangerous powers to be contained. He claimed that Russia “is without question our number one geopolitical foe,” and promised to designate China as a currency manipulator, subject to trade sanctions, on his first day in office.

nakul wrote:Russia to Boost Defense Spending 59% by 2015

Russia plans to boost annual defense spending by 59 percent to almost 3 trillion rubles ($97 billion) in 2015, up from $61 billion in 2012, the head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

“Targeted national defense spending as a percentage of GDP will amount to 3.2 percent in 2013, 3.4 percent in 2014 and 3.7 percent in 2015,” Defense Committee chairman Vladimir Komoedov is quoted as saying in the committee’s conclusion on the draft budget for 2013-2015.

The draft budget will come up for a first reading in the Duma on Friday.

The spending proposals provide financing to “re-equip units with new weapon systems, military and specialty equipment and provide housing and social safeguards for service members” among other issues, Komoedov said.

Making up for the lost years after Soviet Union's collapse?

By SUJAN DUTTA | http://www.telegraphindia.com – Thu 11 Oct, 2012

New Delhi, Oct. 10: Russian and Indian military leaders met today for an annual event that marks a unique partnership, but for the first time the ghost of Pakistan peeked through the long table across which the two delegations worked out sweetheart deals.

The "P" factor in India-Russia relations has begun playing out just as New Delhi is voicing its dissatisfaction with delays in the delivery of military equipment and spares.

Moscow is also looking at Islamabad to prepare for both ' America's withdrawal from Afghanistan and to force India's hand.

Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who was originally scheduled to visit New Delhi on October 4, led his delegation here at the 12th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Co-operation.

Serdyukov said he had deferred his programme "because of certain activities of President Vladimir Putin and the presidential review of the new transport aircraft IL476".

Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was on a four-day visit to Moscow from October 3.

Asked if Russia was revising its policy of not supplying arms to Pakistan, Serdyukov said: "We have not had any changes in our legislation whatsoever."

India staunchly opposes arms exports to Pakistan and one reason it has relied on Russian military hardware for decades is that Moscow has stood by its commitment.

Russia has been India's largest supplier of military hardware since the 1970s. Nearly 70 per cent of India's military arsenal is made up of Russian or erstwhile Soviet-era equipment. With more contracts in the pipeline, Russia is likely to remain the dominant arms supplier to India for another 15 years. But India is increasingly diversifying its sources for weapons.

Now, however, there is a steady building-up of voices in favour of a "re-set" in Russia-Pakistan relations.

"India remains Moscow's most important partner in the area of MTC (military technical co-operation), both in terms of volume and potential. Yet, Delhi's attempts to diversify its supplies of new weapons ' increasingly from western countries ' are making Russia flinch. Moscow has explained to Delhi, in no uncertain terms, that it can also diversify its military-technical ties by means of a rapprochement with Pakistan," Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told the Russian newspaper Kommersant.

Defence minister A.K. Antony today emphasised to his Russian counterpart that delays in deliveries of equipment should be given top priority. Serdyukov confirmed that the delivery of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov would be delayed by another year.

"We have conducted large-scale trials in the White and Barents seas. We have covered 1,100 nautical miles and hundreds of take-offs and landings by fighter jets and helicopters (from the deck of the carrier) and we have done a lot of collaborative work with Indians. But we have now encountered a big malfunction that has to do with the main power plant and the boiler. So the ship is back in the Sevmash shipyard and we believe it can now be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2013," Serdyukov explained.

Despite the delay and the over-reliance on Russian military hardware, the two delegations also completed the spadework for the Indian Air Force to acquire an additional 59 Mi-17 V-5 helicopters and 42 Sukhoi 30 Mki fighter jets.

The deals are likely to be signed during a scheduled visit by President Putin in December.

Moscow has explained to Delhi, in no uncertain terms, that it can also diversify its military-technical ties by means of a rapprochement with Pakistan

nakul wrote:Russia can't let go off India either. They would want to supply to all three- China, India & Pakistan. Currently they supply to only two of the three. The JF 17 engine is already underway. If they want to, they could supply weapons to both India & Pakistan, similar to what US is doing. So we have levers to prevent this from happening other than increasing our procurement from them?

Austin wrote:Pakistan is important for Russia since as soon as NATO leaves Afghanistan , ISI which already has infulence will try to bring it as much under its fold as possible ...Russia knows that very well and even Russian dont want the US to stay in there for long.

That makes Pakistan position pivotal in future Afghanistan and the drugs/terrorism that will pass through CIS/CSTO region and from prior experience before 9/11 Russia and Pakistan did not see eye to eye and had faced issue with drugs and support to Chechnia rebels they might not want to commit the same mistake twice.

It is better for Russia that Pakistan is on friendly terms for them then be neutral or worse unfriendly not to mention that Pakistan is a NWS with BM that can reach Russian friendly countries in the region and if the dog need few bones to keep it happy then Russian wont mind putting those few bones to keep Pakistan happy.

shyamd wrote:I don't think Putin sees it that way - simply look back at his statements and advice to the US/GWB before the Afghan war. He said don't trust the TSPians and they will just screw them over.

Austin wrote: Russia has said they want clear plan on NATO Afghanistan and they want NATO to stay till job finishes.

In the end Russia does not loose any thing in Blood or Money and NATO cannot for ever remain out there more so with so many friendly fire compounding the problem for them.

But in the end Russia knows too well that NATO will leave Afghanistan sooner then later and Pakistan will become a dominant player so its better to befriend them then be on opposite sides as was the case before 9/1

nakul wrote:Russia - PRC is not going anywhere. They need each other because one has a better economy the other has a better military. In case of Pakistan, it has neither military nor economy to offer to the Russians. The only benefit that Russia gets is fewer terror exports. If Pakistan can give it to Russia and keep the terror away from Russian interests, Russia wouldn't mind the friendship. Putin doesn't want terrorism to grow and will look to build levers of pressure with Pakistan to enforce some kind of deal. This deal could be harmful to Indian interests. I believe this breaking of ice between the two is what India is trying to avoid. Even though Russia is neutral in case of India PRC war, Russian weapons would be used against India by PRC. Do we want an additional supplier of weapons to Pakistan? France has been weaned away from Pakistan by way of lucrative weapon deals. Perhaps Russia is asking for preferential treatment from India.

A year after it began to preach from the confines of the Russian embassy in the capital, the Russian Orthodox Church of Russia formally introduced itself to the capital's Christian fold with a brief ceremony this weekend.

The Church, which does not have space to conduct services in the country, has moved the government to acquire land in the capital to build a shrine. The demand was taken up by

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin, who was in India earlier this week with a large trade delegation, Manoj Kumar, a spokesperson and a legal advisor to the Church said.

"It will be integrated into the agenda of Russian Premier Valdimir Putin, who is visiting India next month," the spokesperson said.

Russia has given land to ISKCON to build a temple and seeks a reciprocal gesture from India for the Russian Orthodox Church, he added.

The Russian Orthodox Church is one of the biggest of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in the world dating back to 988 AD. After the 1917 Revolution and under the Communist regime, the activities of the Church was controlled and members were persecuted.

But the liberalisation of the Soviet regime in 1988 saw a revival of the Church. The order manages 700 places of worship around the world.

The Russian Orthodox Church in India traces its links to the ancient church of St Thomas in South India.

It has 500 followers in India, Father Grennady Moroz, the head of Russian Orthodox Church in Pakistan, Nepal and India said.

"Many Hindus are keen to convert to the Russian Orthodox Christianity that preaches an ancient version of Christianity as laid down by the apostles," Moroz said.

He said in Pakistan, the Church has 60 members, mostly from the diplomatic missions, and 40 in Nepal. In the capital, 120 members regularly flock to the sermons, he said.

The Church was launched with a showcase of Russian musical and ballet at the Russian Cultural Centre.

Addressing the introduction ceremony, senior Congressman Manish Tiwari, one of the several non-Christian friends of the Russian Orthodox Church: said "Christianity is and remains, in its ever expanding interplay of streams, one of the oldest faiths in India."

"The constitution of India has been a guaranteer of religious freedom. This philosophy of 'sarva dharma sambhav' has allowed us to permit the establishment of a constellation of institutions by various religious minorities. This exchange hasn't just enriched the minorities. The osmosis of ideas, universal faith, and cultural renaissance have become India's contribution to the development of the new world order," Tiwari said.

He said "a befitting Orthodox Church in Delhi, which will engage both Russians and Indians, will be a satisfying milestone in this journey".

shyamd wrote:The Pakis can't guarantee their "all weather allies" PRC that they will stop sending terrorists into Xinjiang - leave alone the Russians. Russia and Pakis won't do anything, Russia just want to pressure India.

nawabs wrote:Russia orthodox church seeks land in Delhi

Russia has given land to ISKCON to build a temple and seeks a reciprocal gesture from India for the Russian Orthodox Church, he added.

Igor Sechin, Rosneft chief executive, has reported to President Vladimir Putin that the Russian oil and gas company has agreed upon purchase of 100% shares of the British-Russian joint venture TNK-BP.

“We have signed off on a framework agreement today outlining the purchase of BP’s stake,” Igor Sechin said.

He also said that earlier BP approved purchase of AAR’s stake in TNK-BP by Rosneft.

BP to sell its stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft for $17.1bn and 12.84% of Rosneft shares

The British gas and oil company BP has decided that it will sell its stake in TNK-BP to the Russian giant Rosneft for $17.1 billion and 12.84% of Rosneft shares.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday blessed a full takeover by state oil major Rosneft of Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP, calling it a good deal at a good price.

Putin was speaking at a meeting with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, who said Rosneft had agreed to buy 100 percent of TNK-BP from its shareholders, British oil major BP and the AAR consortium representing four Soviet-born tycoons.

In a statement, Rosneft said it would pay $28 billion for AAR's one-half stake in TNK-BP, which Sechin said would be comparable in value to the cash and stock deal buyout of BP's stake.

October 23, 2012
Sergey Ivanov, specially for RIR
Diplomatic sources say problems with Kundankulam’s 3rd and 4th reactors and Sistema’s 2G license cancellation at the root of the postponement.

Senior officials in the Russian and Indian governments told RIR that the postponement had to do with the Russian president’s unhappiness with the outcome of Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin’s visit to India. On Monday, rumours about an indefinite postponement were doing the rounds in diplomatic circles, but spokesmen for both the Russian Embassy in New Delhi and the Indian Embassy in Moscow denied such talk. Certain Indian diplomatic sources had even hinted that such rumours were at the behest of elements in Pakistan disgruntled with the fact that Putin indefinitely put off a visit to that country.

nakul wrote:ISKCON might be US based but booting them like USAID can kick off a storm in India. We saw the reaction that banning the Bhagwad Gita evoked. Maybe that's why they feel that it is safer to have a Russian church in India & ISKCON in Russia than neither of the two. It would be interesting to know why ISKCON doesn't use Indian priests for their services.

Aditya_V wrote:As I Cant hink, Let the Russian Orthodox church buy Land at Market rates in Lutyens and have its Church there. The Russian Orthodox Church tried this Tactic with Saudi Barbarian Mosques in Russia which I feel as justified, an orthodox church in Lutyens would shut them up agianst Hindus in general in Russia. Anther church in India hardly matters to a nation with thouands of Churches.

nakul wrote:We are planning to get pipelines from Central Asia, either Pakistan or East Turkestan. I think China already has built infrastructure in their north-west for oil and gas. We need a feeder line from J&K to the Chinese junction. I read a report where ONGC was studying the feasibility of using an over land route from China. The other option is the TAPI pipeline.

How do we currently get our goods from Russia? Is it via the Japan - South China Sea - Malacca strait?