India-Russia bonhomie

OLD allies India and Russia managed to tick all the boxes during an in-person summit meeting between PM Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin, the inaugural ‘2+2’ foreign and defence ministerial dialogue and a sitting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation. The two nations signed an agreement for joint production of over six lakh AK-203 assault rifles at a manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi and also cemented a pact on military cooperation for a 10-year period. Besides strengthening defence and military ties, India and Russia are also putting their best foot forward to enhance collaboration in the fields of civil nuclear energy, space, transport and connectivity, energy, trade and health.

The summit optics were good, the admiration was mutual. Putin called India a ‘great power, a friendly nation and a time-tested friend’, while Modi stated that India-Russia friendship had remained a constant amid all the geopolitical changes at the global level in the past decades. More importantly, the two nations’ readiness to go ahead with the S-400 missile deal despite the threat of US sanctions has underscored the durability of their bilateral relationship. Notwithstanding its growing closeness with the US, India has been asserting that it would go by its national interest while dealing with other countries, including Russia.

It’s also significant that Russia sees a prominent role for India in the rebuilding of war-torn Afghanistan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rightly pitched for inducting India into the extended group on Afghanistan comprising the US, Russia, China and Pakistan. New Delhi has been kept out of meetings of this grouping earlier this year and it remains to be seen how Russia will tackle resistance from China and Pakistan to India’s presence at the high table. In any case, having all-weather friend Russia firmly by its side will give India greater confidence to deal with both hostile neighbours. The fact that this bonhomie is being witnessed in the golden jubilee year of the landmark Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation makes it all the more special.