Russian realities

There is a temptation, which is forgivable, on the part of some analysts to look at Russia through the sentimental haze of India-Soviet Union equations of the Cold War era. Many of them are critical of India’s new-found fondness for the United States in matters of defence and technology.

They are partly justified in their misgivings about India putting most of its eggs in the American basket. The alternative does not lie in returning to old and trusted friends like the former Soviet Union, which is now Russia. Times have changed.

The Soviet Union has disappeared. Russia is struggling — so far unsuccessfully — to retrieve some of its lost clout in the international arena. Its economy is not exactly vibrant and its experiment with democracy continues to be choppy.

Last Friday, we had former-president-now-prime-minister Vladimir Putin in Delhi signing useful civil nuclear power and defence deals. Putin is both a strong nationalist and a statist and he is able to win elections because that is what the people of Russia are clinging to in these uncertain and troubled times. India will have to learn to look at Russia without the blinkers of the past, assess the new realities and forge fresh ties.

Russia remains a dependable and useful source for defence supplies despite the hiccups over the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. Its offer to build nuclear power reactors is reassuring because the deals with American private nuclear power companies are going to be a long-drawn-out affair.

However, Russia is not exactly the technology leader that it was for some time in the 1950s and 1960s. To be sure, India does not have much of a choice because no other country is so ready to share its knowhow like Russia. It is the same in the case of the aircraft carrier. No other country is willing to give it to India. There are compulsions to hang on with the Russians.

Putin’s observation that Russia does not have defence deals with Pakistan, however, needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Islamabad does not have to shop for arms with Moscow because the Americans are playing Santa to Pakistani generals as part of the strategy in waging the crucial war in Afghanistan.

It is true that Russia has concerns in Afghanistan but like India it is not in a strong enough position to influence the course of events in that country. The Russians are realistic and India should be too.