Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in India yesterday, where contracts worth $10 billion, including the supply of arms and nuclear plant construction, are expected to be signed. In recent years, Delhi has given priority to strengthening its links with Washington, and Mr Putin's trip will help strengthen Russia's position in the conditions of tough competition as the Asian giant's partner. The fate of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov was among the main sticking points of Russian-Indian relations. Moscow was enlisted to modernise and deliver the vessel back in 2004, when the cost was set at $750 million. A matching sum was to be spent on the purchase of on-deck aviation, RIA Novosti reports.
However, the Russian contractor failed to meet the terms of the contract, eventually earning stern criticism from President Dmitry Medvedev, and the price of the deal has now grown immensely due of the fluctuating rate of the dollar.
On the day of Vladimir Putin's arrival in Delhi, the Indian Cabinet's Security Committee approved a new price for the aircraft carrier, which the Indians will call the INS Vikramaditya. at $2.3 billion, LANS reports. That, Moscow hopes, will draw a line under the long-running dispute and restore the prestige of the Russian defence industry as a supplier.
The contract also includes the supply of 30 MIG-29 fighter planes, said Yuri Ushakov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Government Executive Office. Russian officials in the field of international military-technical cooperation say that an agreement may be reached on the joint construction of a fifth-generation fighter plane and a medium-load military transport plane as well.
India increased its defence budget by three times in the last decade. Alongside increased tensions with neighbouring Pakistan in the wake of the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008, China is building its military presence in Southern Asia, and due to rival claims on vast territories in the Himalayas, Delhi feels the need to keep pace. Companies from the US, Israel, and the European Union are also vying for Indian military orders, but India remains the largest foreign purchaser of Russian arms.
Military-technical cooperation will not be the only subject of talks during Putin's visit, however. Russia's Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, said in an interview with Dow Jones that plans for building nuclear power plants with a capacity of up to 15,000 megawatts will be discussed. Russia is already building a nuclear plant in Tamilnadu state in the south of the country. It is now ready to increase its capacity, the ambassador said. A new site for the construction of a Russian nuclear plant has been designated in the state of West Bengal.
Delhi for its part would like a share in the development of hydrocarbons in Yamal, Sakhalin, and in Eastern Siberia.
Commenting on the forthcoming talks to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Professor Ajay Patnaik of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi described Putin's visit as highly important. After the collapse of the USSR, India diversified its international links, but the Delhi still considers Russia a time-tested friend.
The relations between our countries cooled in the early 1990s, but rebounded under Putin, the professor says. Russia currently seeks to pursue a more active policy in Central Asia, and it is a welcome development that could create a more favourable neighbourhood for India. According to Professor Patnaik, Russia and India share an intolerance of terrorism, and in addition to fighting extremism, our countries strongly support a multipolar world.
Feliks Yurlov, a research fellow with the RAS Oriental Studies Institute, also noted the diversification of India's international ties in an interview with NG. Delhi regards the US as its priority partner; but this does not mean that relations with Russia are taking a back seat. The foundation for these relations, dating back to the Soviet era, still exists. However, India is now in a position to choose its partners; it will not buy military or civilian equipment that is uncompetitive on the market.
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India increased its defence budget by three times in the last decade.
Vladimir Skosyrev