India-Russia Strategic Cooperation

INDIA%RUSSIA)STRATEGIC)COOPERATION:)Time)to)move)away) Paper)No.)144! by)Dr.)Subhash)Kapila!

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/paper144! Executive)Summary! *!During!the!Cold!War!years.!!India!while!not!a!member!of!any!bloc!due!to!her!non@aligned! activism,!enjoyed!a!proximate!relationship!with!Russia.! *!The!proximate!India@Russia!relationship!embraced!intense!political,!economic!and!military! cooperation.!This!strategic!cooperation!reached!its!peak!in!August!1971!with!the!signing!of! the! "Indo@Soviet! Treaty! of! Peace! ,! Friendship! and! Cooperation"!! incorporting! security! clauses.! *!The!contextual!imperatives!that!!forged!the!India@Russia!strategic!cooperation!were!from! the!Indian!side!:!US@Pakistan!military!alliance!and!aid,!!Indo@US!estrangement,!!the!Sino@Pak! strategic! relationship! and! the! Sino@Pak@US! stategic! convergence.!! On! the! Russian! side! the! imperatives! were! :! Sino! Russian! military! confrontation,! theSino@US! quasi! @! strategic! relationship!of!the!1975!s!@1980s!and!the!Russian!need!to!reach!out!to!Third!World!countries! through!India.! *! The! basic! and! common!! denominator! on! both! sides! was! the! containment! of! China! and! Pakistan!.! *!These!contextual!imperatives!underwent!a!sea@change!with!President!Gorbachev!coming! into! power.!! He! initiated! what! can! be! described! as! Russia's! 'China! First! '! priority.!! Russia's! strategic! shift! in! its! foreign! policy! formulations! removed! the! planks! on! which! rested! the! India@Russia!strategic!cooperation.! *!Russia!"China!First"!policy!was!vigorously!pursued!by!President!Yeltsin,!and!received!active! pursuance!by!President!Putin.! *! Russia! latest! foreign! policy! document! (Foreign! Policy! of! the!! Russian! Federation! July! 20,2000)!is!reflective!of!Russia's!'China!First'!Policy.! *! At! the! turn! of! the! millienium,! India! which! so! heavily! rested!! for! its! national! security!...