Here's Why India is Vitally Interested in Good Russia Relations

[dadeechi]

But the question is not whether Russia is doing Business with India or not. The question is why is Russia doing Business with Pakistan.

That's simple... desperate times call for desperate measures.

It's not that simple. Russia may seem weak but they are not.

Currently, China & Russia are challenging the Dollar as the world reserve currency offering the West to accept a new world reserve currency made from basket of currencies or be prepared for a split in the world reverse currencies with each block having their own currencies.

Once this happens you would see drastic changes in the economic rankings of the countries in the world

Paper currencies do not have inherent value and are just a reflection of the trust someone places in them to give them a value. Once the trust is gone, the value is gone. Only the tangible commodities & resources count at that point in time. Russia, China, USA with their vast land and resources will survive this ride but smaller countries with meagre resources will take a big hit.

 

[Levina]

It's not that simple. Russia may seem weak but they are not.

Currently, China & Russia are challenging the Dollar as the world reserve currency offering the West to accept a new world reserve currency made from basket of currencies or be prepared for a split in the world reverse currencies with each block having their own currencies.

Once this happens you would see drastic changes in the economic rankings of the countries in the world

Paper currencies do not have inherent value and are just a reflection of the trust someone places in them to give them a value. Once the trust is gone, the value is gone. Only the tangible commodities & resources count at that point in time. Russia, China, USA with their vast land and resources will survive this ride but smaller countries with meagre resources will take a big hit.

I'm sceptical about the Sino-Russian relationship, I'm not sure it would last long. It's not an ideological alignment but a mutual desire to undercut the U.S. in their respective spheres of influence.
China's reverse engineering practises would sooner or later strain their relationship with Russia(remember su-27 flankers and J-11B?). India on the other hand will never be a competition to the Russian arms industry.
Its not just Russia and China which have decided to challenge dollar's hegemony but also the remaining BRIC countries
As far as I know about 20% of Russian economy depends on its defence industry. So it is imperative for Russia to open trade routes with countries like Pakistan in such desperate times.

 

[Spectre]

I'm sceptical about the Sino-Russian relationship, I'm not sure it would last long. It's not an ideological alignment but a mutual desire to undercut the U.S. in their respective spheres of influence.
China's reverse engineering practises would sooner or later strain their relationship with Russia(remember su-27 flankers and J-11B?). India on the other hand will never be a competition to the Russian arms industry.
Its not just Russia and China which have decided to challenge dollar's hegemony but also the remaining BRIC countries
As far as I know about 20% of Russian economy depends on its defence industry. So it is imperative for Russia to open trade routes with countries like Pakistan in such desperate times.

Ideological compatibility often take a back-seat to national interests. Case in point one of the firmest alliances in contemporary times US-Saudi Arabia. When Anti-US platform itself becomes an ideology all ideological differences based on founding principles become inconsequential.

Sino-Russian alliance is only going to firm up further irrespective of liberties Chinese take in reverse engineering - there is more to it than meets the eye, much of it is done with Russian acknowledgement and quid-pro-quo deals not visible in media. You might see junior Russian officials making some customary noises but that would be the extent of protest.

The world in uni-polar state is unstable, hence in absence of any single country to balance out US Bloc it is natural that alliances will form and would persevere unless US looses its global standing.

Russians are hedging with Pakistan - it is intended as multi layered message aimed at multiple parties including India - China - US.

 

[Prajapati]

Ideological compatibility often take a back-seat to national interests. Case in point one of the firmest alliances in contemporary times US-Saudi Arabia. When Anti-US platform itself becomes an ideology all ideological differences based on founding principles become inconsequential.

Sino-Russian alliance is only going to firm up further irrespective of liberties Chinese take in reverse engineering - there is more to it than meets the eye, much of it is done with Russian acknowledgement and quid-pro-quo deals not visible in media. You might see junior Russian officials making some customary noises but that would be the extent of protest.

The world in uni-polar state is unstable, hence in absence of any single country to balance out US Bloc it is natural that alliances will form and would persevere unless US looses its global standing.

Russians are hedging with Pakistan - it is intended as multi layered message aimed at multiple parties including India - China - US.

You are mistaken about the ideological compatibility of US and Saudi Arabia. They are wedded to the same ideology i.e. Capitalism.

 

[Spectre]

You are mistaken about the ideological compatibility of US and Saudi Arabia. They are wedded to the same ideology i.e. Capitalism.

I agree with you absolutely, I was talking about stated ideology of Freedom, Human rights Democracy etc not real ideology i.e. money, power and influence which drives such alliances

 

[[Bregs]]

I agree with you absolutely, I was talking about stated ideology of Freedom, Human rights Democracy etc not real ideology i.e. money, power and influence which drives such alliances

Russian dear has very poor record of diplomacy to show since past few years say in third term of Putin. i am seeing goof ups in there foreign policy. oil prices have crashed and there economy in doldrums inflation has risen to all time high and they still embraced sanctions though wise thing would have been to find a way out of it and how this alliance will help them remains to be seen

 

[Spectre]

Russian dear has very poor record of diplomacy to show since past few years say in third term of Putin. i am seeing goof ups in there foreign policy. oil prices have crashed and there economy in doldrums inflation has risen to all time high and they still embraced sanctions though wise thing would have been to find a way out of it and how this alliance will help them remains to be seen

Yeah Oil prices were really a bummer for Russians, they over played their hand or did they?

If oil prices hadn't fallen then I believe it would have been a very different out-come. Europe wouldn't have put such protracted sanctions and they would have gotten away with a scratch.

Bad luck really or rather I say some excellent leg work done by US where they succeeded in convincing their friends in Gulf to not cut production and at the same time came to an agreement with Iran. Not sure if it is all interconnected with Russia but coincidences of such scale in global politics are unlikely.

 

[khanboy007]

The title says
"Here's Why India is Vitally Interested in Good Russia Relations"

the Question is:

Is Russia interested in keeping good relations with India ?

while the article is mainly shining light to the events that occurred between Russia and Pakistan and how Russia coped with it, while just a little bit of things from India

 

[PARIKRAMA]

Prasun K sengupta view on Pak Russia Su35 murmurs and relationship

Prasun K. Sengupta said..

• Why is everyone going into a tizzy about the Su-35? Instead, the following need to be considered:
  • Was the PAF’s CAS invited to see the Su-35 during the MAKS 2015 expo last month? No.
  • Did a senior PAF delegation visit MAKS 2015? No. Have the Russians sent a Su-35 to Pakistan for in-country demonstration flights? No.
  • Has the PA inked any contract with Russia to procure the four Mi-35Ms? No.
  • Will China & the US who are helping Pakistan survive financially ever allow Pakistan to procure major weapons platforms from Russia? Never. Between the AH-1Z Viper, ZW-10 & Mi-35M, which one will the PA prefer? Definitely the AH-1Z.
• Now to why the Ruskies warmed up to the PA’s COAS a few months back. The reason was the PA during Op Zarb-e-Azb eliminated plenty of ragheads from Chechnya & Uzbekistan who were sworn enemies of Russia in the north Caucasus, & since the PA will be preoccupied with such low-intensity conflicts for the next 10 years at the very least, the PA requires more Mi-171s plus more product-support for these helicopters.
• And that’s exactly what Russia will end up selling to the PA. Nothing else.
• In addition, the Ruskies will most probably supply a RD-93 turbofan NRO facility that will be cited in Kamra.
• Furthermore, since the PAF can no longer bank on Ukraine for supporting its four IL-78MKPs, it will have to approach Moscow for MRO support
• The same goes for the spare 125mm main gun barrels for the PA’s T-80UD MBTs.
• So let’s bury the ghost of Su-35s destined for Pakistan once & for all. In fact, the same can be said even for China, especially after Beijing blatantly embarrassed Moscow by including Chinese clones like the J-11B & J-15 in the September 3 flypast.
• Russia is now asking for an enormous amount of liquidated damages from China for cloning the Su-27/Su-30 families, for cloning the S-300P & for cloning all the naval radars I’ve mentioned above.
• Russia also wants China to promise that none of these cloned items will ever be exported. If ever China starts exporting these items, especially the cloned & cheaper J-11s & J-15s & J-16s, it result in Russia being ousted for good from the global weapons export market.
• So, for all intents & purposes, the Su-35s are no longer on offer to China as well

 

[Ragnar]

Russia has been a good weapons seller, selling us toys no one else could provide (at the time), but lets not read too much into the friendship aspect. Both India and Pakistan were pawns during the Cold War, nothing more. After Cold War, its been a free for all. Russia did not make a big deal when we were offered F-16/F/A-18s for MMRCA, neither did Pakistan. It is high time we reduce our reliance on other powers, and become self reliant.

 

[wiseone2]

Originally appeared at Russia Beyond the Headlines

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov’s recent statement has caused alarm in India, forcing the Russian Embassy in New Delhi to issue a clear-cut statement reiterating that Moscow will never take any step ‘detrimental’ to the security and safety of its privileged strategic partner India. Source: TASS

A spectre is haunting Indian minds — the spectre of a Russia-China-Pakistan ‘Axis’ directed against India’s security and vital interests. At least judging by local media comments and academic discourse one gets this impression.

Of course, who doesn’t know about the ‘all-weather’ China-Pakistan relationship, but on this backdrop India’s old and time-tested friend Russia warming up to Pakistan has stolen the good night’s sleep of many strategists and analysts and caused a storm in the web based social media.

The Russia-China-Pakistan axis bogey is generally raised in the Indian media by a powerful pro-American lobby, which is prodding the (Narendra) Modi government to jump on the US bandwagon in containing China and stop buying arms from Russia. But do they understand the costs of such policy for the common Indian?

We get media reports daily about ‘cash-strapped’ Russia selling this or that lethal weapon to Pakistan, but so far only the report of selling 4-5 Mi-35M assault helicopters for anti-terror operations has been officially confirmed.

During their recent Russia visits Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif evinced their interest in acquiring cutting-edge Russian weapons. There have been reports of Pakistan taking interest in buying Sukhoi Su-35 multirole state-of-the-art fighters, which has raised the BP of many strategic pundits in New Delhi.

In this context I recall former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov’s book “Years in Big Politics” (original Russian title: Gody v Bolshoi Politike) published in 1999. Since the Soviet collapse Academician Primakov was chief of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) till his appointment as Foreign Minister in January 1996 by President Boris Yeltsin.

He writes that in early 1990s Pakistan had requested for Sukhoi Su-27 fighters from Russia, which were the best warplane at that time. According to Primakov, the Russian Foreign Ministry (then headed by Andrei Kozyrev) had cleared the deal. However, the Kremlin referred it to SVR.

“We asked the Pakistani side, do they have funds to buy the planes? They replied, yes, they have agreement with Saudi Arabia. We cross-checked through our channels and found it was not true. SVR established that it was a grand foreign plot to scuttle Russia’s military-technical cooperation with India,” former Russian Prime Minister Primakov wrote in his book.



Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov’s recent statement on the sidelines of Arms Expo in Nizhny Tagil has caused alarm in India, forcing the Russian Embassy in New Delhi to issue a clear-cut statement reiterating that Moscow will never take any step ‘detrimental’ to the security and safety of its privileged strategic partner India. It described the furore in Indian media over the agency report as ‘over reaction’.

So, what is the reality? My over three decades of experience of covering Russia has taught me never to depend on translation of the original Russian text, as the Russian language is so rich that one and the same word may have many meanings, depending on the context. So, I naturally went to the original agency copy in English, which caused euphoria in the Pakistani web community and despair in India.

Mr. Ryabkov called Pakistan as Russia’s ‘nearest neighbour’ (geographically) and a partner looking for developing relations in not only in defence, but also in many spheres including energy. But the English translation of the same news story described Pakistan as Russia’s ‘closest partner’ in South Asia, which de facto questions the privileged strategic partnership with India.

However, factually it is just not true, but explains the ‘over reaction’ of the Indian media. Perhaps, that’s why the Russian Embassy in New Delhi was forced to issue an unprecedented denial, reiterating Moscow’s commitment to the Strategic Partnership Declaration of 2000, where both Russia and India have taken obligations not to indulge into activities ‘detrimental’ to the security of other party.

The Russia-Pakistan bogey was first raised after Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s November 2014 Islamabad visit, when the two countries signed a defence cooperation agreement. To be frank, such agreements are a common thing in the diplomatic practice of the nations formally not at war. So what? India also holds joint war games with the Chinese military. Not only this, for over a decade we have interacted with China at the highest level in the Russia-India-China triangle, is it an anti-Pakistan triangle?

Moreover both New Delhi and Islamabad are in the process of joining the Russia-China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, with the prime goal of combating terrorism, extremism and separatism – the problems of main concern for India. Pakistan will now have to prove its commitment to the common goal to other fellow members of this regional organisation.

In view of the imminent US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia sees Pakistan as a key player in its neighbourhood, which can play either a stabilising or destabilising role, in both cases a mechanism of interaction is a must. According to a former top general of Soviet General Staff, during their Afghan campaign the Soviets maintained constant contact with the Pakistani ISI.

During their Afghan consultations, India and Russia have repeatedly agreed that Pakistan has a role in post-war dispensation in Afghanistan. Russian fears about extremist spill-over into the secular post-Soviet regimes of Central Asia, home to millions of ethnic Russians.

If that is so, why should Moscow not adopt a pro-active stance in involving Islamabad in its own calculus? Even China is wary of ISIL spilling over to its Muslim-dominated Eastern Turkistan and is also adopting the complex economic strategy to engage Pakistan.

What concerns Russia’s alliance with China, the developments here are logical continuation of their interaction over past decades and not the result of US-led Western sanctions over Ukraine. Gas and pipelines going to China are not new projects. What concerns Central Asia, objectively Russia and China are both rivals and partners and by joining SCO India also can play its positive role in the development of the region by partnering with Moscow, which unlike Chinese ‘One Road One Belt’ (OROB) project, wants to revive not only Silk Road, but all the ancient trade routes crisscrossing huge Eurasian land mass of former Soviet Union in all directions.

As a responsible regional power with the ambitions of becoming global power, India should use the opportunities opening with Russia’s economic activities in our neighborhood


. Here's Why India is Vitally Interested in Good Russia Relations

I do not see why Russia selling Su-35s for hard cash to Pakistan should influence India-Russian relations.
availability, reliability and transfer of technology for Russian weapons will determine India-Russia relations.
Let us face it - India-Russian ties are driven by weapon sales than anything else

 

[dadeechi]

It's not that simple. Russia may seem weak but they are not.

Currently, China & Russia are challenging the Dollar as the world reserve currency offering the West to accept a new world reserve currency made from basket of currencies or be prepared for a split in the world reverse currencies with each block having their own currencies.

Once this happens you would see drastic changes in the economic rankings of the countries in the world

Paper currencies do not have inherent value and are just a reflection of the trust someone places in them to give them a value. Once the trust is gone, the value is gone. Only the tangible commodities & resources count at that point in time. Russia, China, USA with their vast land and resources will survive this ride but smaller countries with meagre resources will take a big hit.

I'm sceptical about the Sino-Russian relationship, I'm not sure it would last long. It's not an ideological alignment but a mutual desire to undercut the U.S. in their respective spheres of influence.
China's reverse engineering practises would sooner or later strain their relationship with Russia(remember su-27 flankers and J-11B?). India on the other hand will never be a competition to the Russian arms industry.
Its not just Russia and China which have decided to challenge dollar's hegemony but also the remaining BRIC countries
As far as I know about 20% of Russian economy depends on its defence industry. So it is imperative for Russia to open trade routes with countries like Pakistan in such desperate times.

Russia-China-Pakistan axis is a done deal. Russia really does not have any option but to go with China.

USA - Primary opponent

UK - Yes master of US

France - already (succumbed to US pressure and) went against Russia

India - Heavily dependent on US for it's economy

Germany & Japan - Constrained to have an independent foreign policy and follow US.