K Srinivasan
THE December Russia visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the 21st meeting of the IndiaRussia Inter-Governmental Commission on the Military-to-Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) was a resounding success if one goes by the Russian Defence Ministry release on the occasion.
NDTV quoted Rajnath Singh from the readout of the meeting with President Putin as describing the: ‘friendship between our countries is higher than the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest ocean.” It’s very like the China-Pakistan sugar pills that is toted out routinely. What that is a client-state relationship, India’s enduring friendship with Russia has been decades in the making and has truly stood the test of time.
Resilient relationship
In July when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Moscow for the 22nd India-Russia annual summit, the joint statement at the end of the summit noted: ‘’The Sides underlined that India-Russia ties have remained resilient in the backdrop of the prevailing complex, challenging and uncertain geopolitical situation. Both Sides have strived to forge a contemporary, balanced, mutually beneficial, sustainable and long-term partnership. Development of the India-Russia relations over the entire spectrum of cooperation areas is a shared foreign policy priority. The Leaders agreed to make all efforts to unlock the full potential of the strategic partnership.’’
Rajnath Singh, too, met Putin and this is how The Hindu reported on their conversation: “Mr. Singh called on Mr Putin at the Kremlin and the meeting lasted for almost an hour, defence sources said. Friendship between our countries is higher than the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest ocean. India has always stood by its Russian friends and will continue to do so in future, he said during the meeting.’’
Strategic autonomy
Writing in The Week, Sanjib Kr Baruah is right when he says that “India’s central diplomatic tenet of ‘strategic autonomy’ or ‘single-mindedly pursuing its national interests without belonging to any power block’, is helping it take a position that is one of friendliness while reaping the benefits of being so with both Russia and the US.” No wonder, “It is also a play of words. With the US, India shares a ‘Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership’, while it is a ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’ with Russia.”
While the friendship has grown from strength to strength, the business of defence acquisition has its own turbulent path. Multiple deals including deliveries of the S400 air defence systems (that the Defence Minister brought up both at the meeting with President Putin and with his Russian counterpart), and the Krivak class stealth frigates, have been delayed significantly, especially so after the Ukraine war commenced in February 2022. This is over and above the pursuit of spares that have also been delayed inordinately. While all this was raised, there is really no solution visible in the near future to resolve this spare parts conundrum.
Warship construction
The INS Tushil (commissioned at Kaliningrad during the visit by the Raksha Mantri) and the Tamal are likely to be the last two warships constructed for India in Russia. With ‘Make in India’ in centerstage, all future warships will be constructed domestically. The nuclear attack submarine (SSN), INS Chakra-III, leased by India and now under modification is more than likely to be the last submarine that India imports from Russia in keeping with the make-in-India diktat.
This Akula-class nuclear attack submarine was originally to join the Indian Navy fleet in 2025 but is now anticipated to join the fleet by 2028, according to Government sources. This threeyear delay has upended the Navy’s fleet expansion plans considerably and marks a clear diversion from the agreed 2019 timeline when the agreement was signed. This is a $3-billion deal leasing the Akula-1 class submarine for a period of ten years. But it is evident that the friendship with Russia will see considerable evolution with simple purchases and production in India being replaced by joint development and production. Increasingly, that is the roadmap that the two countries are likely to explore.
