India-Russia Relations: All Weather Friends

India-Russia Relations:

India-Russia relations always proved in tough times. India abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to indirectly support Russia.

However, Western countries were putting pressure on India to condemn Russia’s action. Russia in return says thanks to India. Russia also helped Indian students in leaving Ukraine.

A Russian rocket carrying 36 satellites from countries including the USA, UK, India, Japan, France and South Korea, which was to be launched on 4th March from the Baikonur space station.

Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS covered flags of all countries except the Indian flag as a response to military and economic sanctions by these countries on Russia.

India and Russia, however, are different from each other like Russia believes in communism; however, India is the largest democracy in the World. Russia was a second world country and India chose to be a Non-Aligned member.

But still India-Russia relations are good. They respect each others’ policies and their friendship becomes stronger over the years . People from both countries have good feelings for each other. Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Indian PM Narendra Modi with the highest civilian award of Russia ‘The Order of St. Andrew Apostle’.

But now both countries are facing a downfall in their relationships as Putin is not going to attend the G-20 Summit, which is hosted by India. The reason for not attending such an important summit is the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Also, Russia has come close to Pakistan and China.

Why is Russia an All Weather Friend of India?

• Political Relations During Soviet Union: Russia (then USSR) played a significant role in the Tashkent Agreement. This agreement was signed on 10th January 1966 after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan. It was signed by Pakistan President Muhammad Ayub Khan and Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in presence of Soviet Premier Aleksey Kosygin.
             But this agreement was criticized in India as India captured a lot of land from Pakistan. A backlash from Indian people caused a lot of pressure on Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri which led to his death on the next day of Agreement, that is 11th January 1966.
  
• India and Russia signed the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in August 1971, which proved a turning point for India. In 1971, India attacked Eastern Pakistan (Today Bangladesh) to free it from Western Pakistan as the mainland Pakistan tortured the people of Bangladesh. During this Indo-Pak war, Russia came in support of India under this treaty to counter the support of western countries to Pakistan like the USA and UK. Russia sent its 40th fleet of navy, which included nuclear submarines, frigates, and destroyers, to the Indian Ocean, to stop the 7th fleet of the US navy.
  
• India abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly resolution against the Soviets, when the Soviets entered Afghanistan to save the Soviet regime in 1979.
  
• Trade: Also, bilateral trade between both countries is $8 billion. India’s exports to Russia are worth $2.6 billion, and its imports from Russia are worth $5.4 billion. It is expected that bilateral trade between both countries will increase to $20 billion by 2050.
  
• Political relations after the Soviet Union: India shared long-standing relations with the Soviet Union, but even after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia and India still maintain close relations.
  
• Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 conducted a nuclear test at Pokhran with the help of APJ (Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen) Abdul Kalam. This test had been given the code name Smiling Buddha. Many countries including the USA and Japan, also imposed sanctions on India. At that time it was Russia, who came in support and not condemned India.
  
• India also supported Russia in the crisis. In 2014, when Russia captured Crimea from Ukraine, India abstained from voting in the UN General Assembly resolution against Russia.
  
• India and Russia also hold bilateral meetings on an annual basis. The last annual summit was held in 2021, when Vladimir Putin visited India with a high-level delegation. Till 2021, a total of 21 such meetings have taken place alternately in India and Russia.
  
• On 5th August 2019 India scrapped Article 370 and 35 A which were related to Jammu and Kashmir issue. This issue was raised at the UN Security Council by Pakistan and China many times. But Russia supported India by saying that Jammu and Kashmir is India’s internal matter and no country has the right to interfere in internal matters of India. Russia used 3 times its Veto power on Kashmir at the UN.
  
• Space: India’s first artificial satellite Aryabhatta launched by Soviet Kosmos-3M from Kapustin Yar in 1975. Rakesh Sharma India’s first astronaut sent to space with the help of Russia.
  
• Defense: Russia is also an important partner of India in the defense sector. India’s 65% defense equipment comes from Russia. India buys the S-400 missile system from Russia which helps India to restrict the threats coming from China and Pakistan on the border. About 6.1 lakh AK-203 rifles will be produced by Russia in the plant of Uttar Pradesh. Brahmos Missile, Sukhoi-30 was jointly produced by Russia and India.
  
• International Membership: Both the countries are also members of common international organizations like BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organizations, the United Nations, etc.
  
• Cultural Relations: In terms of culture, there is a very strong bond between the people of Russia and India. About 21 Russian institutions, including schools and universities, are teaching Hindi, Tamil, and Sanskrit to more than 1500 Russian students. Russian citizens show a great interest in Indian music, dance, and yoga. JNCC, which is the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre in Moscow, conducts classes in Hindi, dance, music, and yoga for more than 500 students every month.

In short, we can say that both countries share strong historical, economic, defense, and trade relations.