NEW DELHI – Russia and India s leaders announced on Friday a raft of dealsworth billions of dollars including for a military defence system, as NewDelhi walks a tightrope between Moscow and Washington with a wary eye onChina.
The flagship accord announced during a visit to India by President VladimirPutin was for the formidable S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system,worth $5.2 billion according to an Indian source.
Other agreements — announced following a meeting between Putin and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi that began with a hug — were in railways,fertilisers and space, with Russia set to train astronauts for India sfirst crewed space mission in 2022.
“We welcome you as a leader of a country which has second-to-none relationswith us,” Modi told a joint news conference. “Today we have taken decisionsthat will make our long term relations even stronger.”
Russia “reiterated its unwavering support to India for permanent membershipin an expanded UN Security Council” and for India joining the NuclearSuppliers Group of countries controlling access to nuclear technology, ajoint statement said.
The talks also covered Russia potentially building a new nuclear powerplant in India, and also India paying Russia $2 billion for frigates and $1billion for helicopters, although these last two were absent from thecommunique.
India s decision to purchase the S-400, which shoots down any incomingenemy aircraft and missiles, flies in the face of the United Statesimposing sanctions on countries buying Russian military hardware, ashappened with China last month.
US-Russia ties are plumbing depths not seen since the Cold War, plungingfurther still this week as Western powers accused Moscow of orchestrating abrazen string of global cyber attacks.
However, Washington is in a tricky position with India, seeking to bolsterties with the Asian giant to counter China s growing assertiveness,something which has also rattled New Delhi.
Last year India and China had a military standoff over a Himalayan plateauclaimed by both Beijing and Bhutan, a close ally of India.
China has also perturbed India by loaning large amounts of money to IndianOcean countries where Delhi has long held sway.
“It is… important for India to keep friendly relations with the Russiansso that they don t completely move into the Chinese camp,” said Manoj Joshifrom the New Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation.
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“Also, the fact is that unlike the US, Russian regional interests largelyoverlap with India s regional policy,” he told AFP.
Washington and New Delhi announced plans last month for joint militarydrills in 2019, and agreed on the exchange of sensitive militaryinformation. The US is now India s second-biggest arms supplier.
India therefore could expect to gain a sympathetic ear if it seeks a waiverfrom the US sanctions, but President Donald Trump s administration hassignalled this is unlikely.——————————
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Russia and India have been close since the 1950s and Moscow remains itsbiggest source of weaponry as it prepares itself for perceived potentialthreats from China and Pakistan.
India has also been irked by Trump s decision to exit from the 2015 nucleardeal between major powers and Iran, a major supplier of oil to thefast-growing Indian economy.
Meanwhile Indo-Russian annual trade has slipped below $10 billion since2014, as Modi cultivated closer diplomatic and economic ties withWashington, while Russia has courted Pakistan and China.
The president of state-run Russian bank VTB, Andrei Kostin, said in Delhion Friday that the two countries aimed to triple the two-way flow of goodsand services to $30 billion.
“We have a strategic partnership and a very harmonious dialogue at thepolitical level,” Kostin told reporters.
“But we have to complete this with the strengthening of economic ties.” -APP/AFP
