Putin’s 6 hour visit shows India still in game

Nilova Roy Chaudhury

The brevity of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India was in direct contrast to the size of the joint statement (a lengthy 99 paragraph document entitled India-Russia: Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity) and the number of agreements - 28 - that emerged from it.

It is curious why President Putin chose to visit India for a faceto- face meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for barely six hours, declining to spend a night here. Had it not been a standalone visit to Delhi, it would have been reminiscent of the flying visits to Islamabad that American presidents made on their way back from India, stopping off briefly to lecture the errant Pakistani leadership about the need to curb terrorists in their backyard!

However, since it was only the second visit Putin has made outside Russia this year, (the other being to Geneva, in June, for a meeting with US President Joe Biden) the intention was certainly not to display any lessening of warmth toward the host country, India. And he had to return for another scheduled virtual summit with Biden.

The Covid-19 pandemic could not be the reason for the very short duration of the visit, because both the principals were unmasked from the moment Modi received Putin at the entrance to Hyderabad House, with a warm handshake and an awkward semi-hug, through the duration of their three hour long talks, which continued over dinner. If anything, being unmasked showed their faith in the efficacy of their respective vaccines.Perhaps this is now the norm, after the pandemic-forced work-from-home ethic! However, it is more likely that Putin, like a good boss, wanted to personally seal the deals that the diplomats and other functionaries from both countries had spent gruelling hours working out. After all, India has been a very good ‘partner,’ sourcing numerous billions of dollars of military hardware from Russia; most recently for AK 203 Assault Rifles and the S-400 Triumf missile defence system; and is now investing substantially in Russia’s oil sector and in its Far East.

That Putin decided to actually visit India was likely intended to dispel suggestions that the ‘timetested’ warmth of India – Russia ties had cooled off. It has been 50 years since India and Russia (the former Soviet Union) signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation which, essentially, provided former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi the tailwind she needed to deliver the entity of Bangladesh, even at the risk of confrontation with the mighty United States.

And it has been over two decades since India and Russia forged their strategic partnership and began the mechanism of the annual summit, in each country in alternate years. As with most nomenclatures to relationships in recent years, India and Russia now share a ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership,’ which means that it is more multifaceted, but still largely driven by defence and security aspects, encompassing not only military hardware but also energy, (nuclear and fossil fuel based) space, education, science and technology and infrastructure. Cultural and people-to-people linkages have lost the enthusiasm of the Soviet era with youth, particularly in Russia, looking more to the West for intellectual sustenance and emotional succour.

The lack of real involvement is also apparent from the fact that, despite the political leadership’s efforts to enhance trade and economic cooperation between India and Russia, bilateral trade during April 2020-March 2021 amounted to $8.1 billion. Indian exports amounted to $2.6 billion while imports from Russia amounted to $5.48 billion. There is even dissonance in figures. For the same period, Russian figures show bilateral trade amounted to $9.31 billion. Every joint statement sets ambitious targets, with the latest seeking to raise bilateral trade to $30 billion and bilateral investment to $50 billion by 2025.

The nature of the relationship also lends itself to some bombast and obfuscation; a relic of a bygone era where size was important to show the world and reassure each other. Otherwise a statement like, “The Sides urged all members of the international community to work towards enhancing the level of mutual trust, in order to promote global peace and security,” is quite specious.

However, analysts and scholars dismiss as reflective of Cold War era thinking any suggestions that the warmth of the “time-tested” relations between India and Russia have diminished in recent years, despite New Delhi’s increased proximity to Washington and the ‘Quad,’ in maritime relations, and Moscow’s closer ties with Beijing and even Islamabad.

Although ties with Russia may not be as exclusive as earlier, since India also has developed close ties with the US and other