India- Russia: Strategic and Defense partnership

As far India is concerned, Russia has been it’s all time long standing and time tested partner which provides a multi-faceted look towards India’s Foreign policy.
India and Russia’s relationship is largely oriented towards the defence sector and even both the countries are trying to diversify their relationship in the economic sphere also.
Eg: The visit of the PM to Vladivostok, various summit meetings etc.

Recently, India’s defence minister has been invited to Russia for participating in the 75th victory parade which marks a great significance for India to open up about the issues which India is facing in the current scenario.
India has a chance to take up the issue of chinese aggression though Russia enjoys an excellent relationship with China due to geo-politics.
It will provide India an opportunity to discuss 2 important issues which are on the table currently because Indian Air force is having a gap in defence equipment.

(i) The delivery of more MIG and Su-Khoi fighter jets

(ii) To expedite the delivery of S-400 system

The other issue is the delivery of spare parts for defence equipment is generally via sea route but this time India is requesting the delivery via Airlifting.
It can also be a special point to improve our relationship with China.

In today’s scenario, Russia’s influence on India and China has grown considerably because Russia is the only country in the world to have the trust factor of both the countries.
As India, Russia and China are a part of various groupings like BRICS, SCO, RIC etc. so as of now Russia would not like to disturb the RIC grouping but it can also play a vital role in shaping the event in future.
In the recent era, the members of the grouping like Russia and China have a different vision for the world and India has a different view for the World.
The main factor which has brought Russia and China together is the applicability of CAATSA act by the U.S. on both the countries.
Russia- China relationship has not only grown at the political and military level but also economically the trade between the 2 countries has increased to 108 billion dollars last year.
The defence ties are also becoming strong day-by-day between Russia and China because Russia has already sold S-400 missile systems and fighter jets to China.
As far as Indo-Pacific region is concerned, Russia and China may join hands together and even in the current scenario Russia may not oppose Pakistan in order to maintain peace in Afghanistan.
Russia can play a major role in defusing the current situation in India and in order to strengthen its relationship India should diversify its economic relations in other sectors as well.

Along with Russia, India’s relation is strong in terms of defence and defence related investment whereas USA is the high technology partner for India.
There are various defence related agreements which have been signed between India and USA which inturn provides interoperability for both the countries and which is necessary for countering China’s threat in the Indian Ocean Region.
Thus, India has always mentioned that it will always go by its own interest and priorities, and India needs to balance its relations with both the countries in the requisite manner.

There are various sectors or areas where India and Russia can collaborate to diversify their relationship such as Mining in metallurgy, IT, chemicals, ship building, automobiles, railways, space, manufacturing and especially in terms of skilled labour because Russia has influx of skilled labour from China and it wants India also to represent itself so that it should not become a monopoly for China.
In the current context, the main focus should be in areas like nuclear power and hydrocarbons, healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and IT.
India should also try expediting direct gas pipelines from Russia to India.
India should also take a step forward for the proposed 1 billion dollar agreement between Russia and India for the infrastructure and Technology.
India can also take the opportunity of exporting the fruits, vegetables etc to other countries as well as Russia.
The major area where India and Russia can collaborate is investment in industrial corridors, telecommunications and trading and consultancy services.
On the International front, India and Russia can join hands for the maintenance of the International North-South corridor (INSC) which passes through Iran and the Arctic expedition.
Hence, in order to diversify its economic relations, India and Russia should go strengthen their relationship in various spheres instead of making it strong just in the defence area.

India and Russia should float on many boats instead of floating on just one boat in order to achieve the goal of increasing the trade and investment to 50 million dollars by 2030.
Thus, both the countries have to give a push for strengthening its relationship further and across many sectors and to become valuable partners in the world order.

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