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October     Last updated: October 28: 7:00 p.m.

The Moving Finger Writes
Let US keep our old friends

M. V. Kamnath

Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has come and gone having held extensive talks not only with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and top officials but also with our commercial and industrial barons, some thoughts are in order. But first some facts: It is now—and in the future—Russia and not the Soviet Union that we are and will be dealing with. The Cold War is over. What President Ronald Reagan called the Evil Empire is gone. The Soviet Union has broken up. Russia is in bad state economically; still it has technical expertise and its reach stretches out all the way to Vladivostock on the border of the Pacific Ocean. After maintaining some distance from India under Stalin, the old Soviet Union under his successor Kruschchev came closer to India, no matter for what reason. The visit of Krushchev and Bulganin to India in 1955 sealed Indo-Soviet friendship. It may be argued that the Soviet Union needed India. But India needed the Soviet Union just as much. The Soviet Union stood by India on the Kashmir issue throughout the post-1955 years when the western powers, led by the United States and Britain were making life hell for Delhi.

We need to remember that. When China made threatening noises during the Indo-Pakistan War, it was again the Soviet Union that stood by us. It is again well to remember that the United States was perfectly aware of Pakistani intention of waging war against India and even quietly abetted it in 1965, but kept India uninformed. We should remember that as well. But times have changed. Russia is not the old Soviet Union. That does not mean that we have to treat it coldly. That is not our culture. In its troubles Russia did approach the United States and the West in general, but has burnt its hands. The West would like to take over Russia economically, if that is possible. India has no such vile ambitions. For a long time an absurd, artificially-propped, State-mandated rupee trading system defined economic relations between India and the old USSR until it was abolished in 1993. Now attempts are on to redefine our economic relations. Inevitably there will be some give and take. On some issues India and Russia are one. On the issue of fighting Islamic terrorism the two countries are on common ground. Let it not be forgotten that the Taliban, in Afghanistan, was once supported by the United States, via Pakistan. In fighting the Taliban, India, Russia and the United States have a common goal. This should be pursued. Largely because of the Cold War, India was forced to make most of its military purchases (between 60 and 75 per cent) from the Soviet Union.

Now Russia and India must work together in the manufacture of defence equipment to their mutual satisfaction, not on a state-to-state but on a Russian state and Indian private enterprise basis. India and Russia must have cheap and easy access to each other’s markets, for both the economies to grow rapidly. Unfortunately, Russia has always wanted to be known as a European—and not an Asian—country. It is getting disillusioned. Russia must be helped to realise that Europe is no longer the centre of the world, whether in terms of economics, politics or culture. It is going to be regarded in future merely as an extension of Asia westward. The new powers will be China and India and in sheer cultural terms it is India that will be the dominating power. Russia must be taught to be proud of its Asian background and weaned away from the West. India and Russia together can be a power to be reckoned with. India, necessarily, will have to work with the United States, for several reasons. One, both countries are democracies and know how to handle each other. Both have—at least at the educated level—a common language, English. Presently there is a substantial Indian presence in the United States which will grow. India has a wealth of engineering talent that it can provide any country, as it is providing the United States and we want it that way.

India wants to have its presence felt in every western country, including Germany and Britain. That is not aimed against Russia. A strong India is a strong friend. Very rightly, therefore, the Strategic Partnership that has been signed between India and Russia has emphasised the importance of the January 1993 Treaty of Friendship & Cooperation which was a continuation of the Bilateral Treaty of Peace, Friendship & Cooperation of August 1971 and the 1994 declaration on further development and intensification of cooperation and the Moscow Declaration of June 1994. That intensive cooperation is necessary, even vital to both India’s and Russia’s interests. Charges have been made by interested parties that India has lost out to Russia on the Admiral Groshkov (aircraft carrier) deal. It is claimed that this is an 18-year old ship and therefore fit only for scrap heap. One is tempted to ask how old was the last aircraft carrier we had when we bought it? Was it brand new? Again there have been charges that of the 125 MIG-21 aircraft that we bought from Russia, 25 have crashed and upgrading them would be a waste of money. This is for the experts to decide. Russia would not have been a superpower if it was technically behind the West. We should stop glamourising the West. It is true that as a result of its break-up and the subsequent chaos that overtook what was left of the Soviet Union, Moscow has not been able to keep some of its promises.

But haven’t western powers been difficult with us when it suited them? Shouldn’t there be an accounting of that? Russia is still solidly behind India on the Kashmir issue. Russia is supporting India’s claims to permanent membership of UN's Security Council. Russia is a key element in negotiating relationships with Central Asian countries like Kazakhistan, Kirghisthan and Tajikistan. They are important to us, both as suppliers of raw materials and as warranty against Pakistan which has been eyeing them on fundamentalist terms. We are accustomed to think only in terms of the United States or Britain or Europe when our security is also linked with Central Asia. This should never be forgotten. Let us never underestimate the value and importance of Russia to us in every way, political, economic and strategic. The Russians may be white people, but at heart they are closer to us than people from other European nations.

We must bring them closer to us. In any event if there is one country which still can bring India and Pakistan together emotionally, it is Russia, not Britain, not any other European country, certainly not China nor the United States. Russians and Indians may not know each other’s language, but they have much more in common than meets the eye. In our infatuation with the West, and especially the English-speaking people let us not forget that Russia has stood by us through thick and thin, when the United States and Britain have worked against us. All things change, but our security needs, our independence and our elbow room to manoeuvre events in our favour, do not change. Let us keep all our options open, as does everybody else. That is the sign of true maturity. Let us never underestimate the value and importance of Russia to us in every way, political, economic and strategic. The Russians may be white people, but at heart they are closer to us than people from other European nations. Russians and Indians may not know each other’s language, but they have much more in common than meets the eye.