UPSC Express

Question : India needs a sound and sustainable policy towards Russia. Suggest measures in this regard.

Answer : Briefly describe India’s relation with Russia According to Nilova Roy Chaudhury, relations with Russia are a key pillar of India’s foreign policy. Under the special and privileged partnership the two countries share, several institutionalized dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow up on cooperation activities. The two countries have established substantial trust and understanding, a convergent worldview, and a stake in preserving a relationship that few countries can claim to have. However, the issue of Russia’s increasing ties with Pakistan has the potential to strain bilateral relations. After the first ever joint military exercises, the first ever foreign office consultations were held between them in December 2016. Pakistan recently approved Russia’s request to use the strategic Gwadar Port for its exports which has brought long standing relationship to a downturn.

Suggests measure to have sound & sustainable policy C Raja Mohan suggests Russian actions would nudge some sort of realism to India atleast. India has been dealing with Russia with idealism, it must come out of Soviet nostalgia, and India shouldn’t get hurt as Russia isn’t Soviet. For creation of any sound & sustainable policy, two countries should communicate with each other as China is common threat for both Russia, India. Ashok Sajjanhar suggests that India-Russia are natural allies and Modi-Putin need to give much greater personal attention to building and strengthening the India-Russia partnership. This task cannot be delegated to Foreign Ministers or Foreign Offices. In the current scenario also, it would devolve upon Modi to take charge of bilateral ties with Russia, as he has done with several other significant partners. He further adds that there is an urgent need to train and raise a new generation of Indologists in Russia. Scholars and academics have always played a critical role in promoting cooperation between the two countries and India’s participation in EEU to be encouraged. Russia feels that India is virtually entering into a military alliance with USA, which will severely restrict Russia’s ability to share sophisticated defence technology such as for India’s nuclear submarine programme with it. India must assure Russians India’s expanding ties with USA are neither at the expense of Russia nor are they in any way directed against Russia or detrimental to its interests. Strategically they are designed to provide greater political space as well as maneuverability for healthy relations with China.

Harsh Pant says that there is attitude problem in both nations, Russia has started looking all relationships thru prism of zero-sum games whereas problem with India that it fails to accept “new normal” of India-Russia relationship.

Conclude on following lines Hence, as Dr. Subhash Kapila points out that whether India goes close to USA or not, Russia will go close to Pakistan due to its geo-political importance. Russia has previously also supplied weapons to Pak but India need not look into relationship with sentimentalism, & nostalgia. India needs to remind Russia of its disintegration due to Pakistan and the fact that there is no other country which has genuine interest