In India's foreign policy, earlier the Soviet Union had a lot of attention and when the USSR disintegrated, Russia's importance remained in the same way.
During the Cold War, when the world was divided into two camps under the leadership of the Soviet Union and America, India was ideologically close to the USSR, despite being in the Non-Aligned.
In the same month 1971, there was a 13-day war between India and Pakistan. This war was caused by the humanitarian crisis in East Pakistan. East Pakistan became Bangladesh only after this war. Earlier, India was trying to convince the whole world about the hegemony of West Pakistan in East Pakistan.
A large number of refugees were coming to India from East Pakistan. There was no hope of a political settlement between West and East Pakistan. Then the Soviet Union was the only country that listened to India.
In August 1971, the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi signed the 'India-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.
Under this agreement, the Soviet Union assured India that it would provide both diplomatic and weapon support in the event of war.
Moscow has been a reliable partner for India. On the other hand, America has been giving importance to Pakistan in comparison to India.
When the crisis arose in East Pakistan, the US ignored it. Analysts say that then US President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger saw Pakistan as an important partner in advancing relations with China.
But the year 1971 was not the beginning of the friendship of India and Russia, but even during the time of Nehru, the Soviet Union was helping India on many fronts of development.
According to experts, in recent days, once again the relations between Russia and India have warmed to such an extent that even the Modi government has neglected America.
On December 6 this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India. Those monitoring Putin's foreign policy gave it a lot of importance.
preference for India
Dmitry Terenin is the director of the think-tank Carnegie Moscow Center. Dmitry wrote in the Moscow Times on December 6 about Putin's visit to India, "This year Putin made only two foreign tours. One went to India and had a meeting with US President Biden in Geneva earlier in June.
"Putin did not even attend the G-20 and COP26 meetings and had to postpone the visit to China due to Covid. But he decided to go to India. This shows that Putin's visit is more than a symbol of the warmth in relations between Russia and India traditionally.
Dmitry has written that the personal relationship between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin is also good. India also bought the S-400 missile system from Russia, rejecting American pressure.
India said that it takes its decision according to its needs. On the other hand, America had expressed its objection to the deal of the S-400 missile system with Russia. US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who visited India in October, had called the deal with Russia dangerous.
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was passed in 2017 to punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. Under this, there is a provision to ban any country that buys military equipment from Russia. But India did not care about it and reached the S-400 deal.
This stand of India was praised by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and said that India has decided towards a sovereign nation. Modi is among the four foreign leaders of the world who have been honored by Russia with the top St. Andrew Award.
Loss of trust in America
Rajan Kumar is Associate Professor at the Center for Russian and Central Asia Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Asked him whether India is neglecting America about Russia.
Rajan Kumar says, "In recent times, India's confidence in America has decreased. The way America called back its troops from Afghanistan, kept India completely isolated in that process. India's entire investment in Afghanistan is at stake.
Rajan Kumar says, "America together with Britain and Australia made an Ocus Defense Agreement. Under this, there is talk of giving nuclear-armed submarines to Australia. This agreement is being seen as a way to stop the growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific. But the result was that Australia canceled the submarine deal it had with France.
In response, France slammed America and said that it has been stabbed in the back. In such a situation, a message also went that when America can do this to NATO-member France, then what is India.
Rajan Kumar believes that India cannot deepen relations with America at the expense of Russia.
Rajan Kumar says, "India is moving forward based on multi-engagement policy. I think this is a realistic approach. Alliance foreign policy will not work in today's world. Only issue-based cooperation can move forward. If India is in BRICS and SACO then it is also in Quad and there is nothing wrong with that. India does not run its foreign policy under anyone.
India's reach in Central Asia
Rajan Kumar says, "India can reach Central-Asia only through Russia. Iran is also an important country for India. If Pakistan has to bypass and reach Central Asia through Chabahar, then only Iran will be useful. Iran cannot come because of America's confrontation with India.
"For this also Russia is necessary. If Russia wants that India should not to be allowed to step into Central Asia, then it can do so. Russia is not only meeting India's military needs but also helps in international forums. Compared to America, Russia is a tried-and-tested country for India.
Last month, on November 25, the 18th meeting of Russia-India-China i.e. RIC was held. Foreign ministers of all three countries attended this meeting. In this meeting, India supported the Beijing Winter Olympics. China is going to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics from March 4 to March 13 next year.
The US, Japan, Canada, and Australia have diplomatically boycotted the Winter Olympics in China. That is, these four countries will not send any delegation to the Winter Olympics. India is the only country in the Quad faction, which has decided to support China in the Winter Olympics. It is being said that India gave this support to China because of Russia.
On this support of India, the English daily Global Times, which is considered to be the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, wrote in an article on 28 November, "Despite strengthening ties with America, Japan, and Australia, India has joined China, Russia, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It has also continued to pursue relations with BRICS member countries. This shows that India wants to keep its foreign policy liberal and does not want to limit its relations to any camp.
India's right decision?
When there is tension with China on the border, why did India not do a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics like the other three countries of the Quad?
Harsh Pant, Professor of International Relations at King's College London, says, "It is a very symbolic protest or support. The players of the countries which have announced to boycott are already leaving. The delegation of diplomats will not go. Earlier, no one even knew that such a delegation also goes.
Professor Pant says, "India does not take such a decision regarding the internal matter of any country. The US, Canada, Australia, and Japan have decided to boycott China over human rights violations. Such human rights questions are also within India. In such a situation, there was nothing to be gained by boycotting India. There was a military coup in Myanmar but India did not oppose it.
On December 6, when Russian President Vladimir Putin came to New Delhi, he signed a total of 28 agreements, including a military deal, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is only a few weeks since President Putin's visit and the two countries have agreed on an agreement for defense cooperation in Central Asia.
In the document of this agreement, the two countries jointly produce defense equipment in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, which are part of the Soviet Union, besides military exercises are also included. The report published in the Economic Times has been tweeted by the official Twitter handle of the Russian Embassy in India.
On Tuesday, Putin met with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon in St. Petersburg. It is being said that Russia and India are simultaneously trying to increase their influence in the countries bordering Taliban-ruled Afghanistan so that Afghanistan can be monitored.
with Afghanistan
Surprise is also being expressed about this cooperation between Russia and India in the Central-Asian countries adjoining Afghanistan.
Only a few months ago, in the talk about the transfer of power in Afghanistan, Russia had kept China, America, the Taliban, and Pakistan. India was not called in this. Analysts then said that Russia was concerned about India's growing closer to the US.
Russia had expressed its concern about the quad. It is now being said that the two countries have come together worried about the knock of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the increasing influence of China in Central Asia, and the role of America in this region.
Russia is apprehensive about the strengthening of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Central Asia since the arrival of the Taliban, while India has a $3 billion investment in Afghanistan. Along with this, India is also concerned about extremism in Kashmir.
In early November this year, the National Security Advisors of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Russia came to New Delhi to discuss Afghanistan. Many of these countries share a border with Afghanistan.
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