Indo- Russian Federation

Relations
India was quite favourably disposed towards
USSR before attainment of independence.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in particular was a
strong supporter of the Russian Revolution of
1917 and greatly admired the support
extended by the Soviet Union to the Indian
freedom movement.
India’s keenness to establish friendly relations
with Soviet Union is evident from the fact that
even before attainment of independence on
15 August 1947, India established diplomatic
relations with Soviet Union ( Vijaylakshmi
Pandit presented her credential as India’s
Ambassador to the Soviet Union on 13
August ,1947). However Soviet Union did not
show the same reciprocity and failed to fully
appreciate the aspirations and policies of
India. It continued to suspect India’s policies
and motivations in international affairs.
Just after independence of India in 1947,
India was in the midst of cold war. But in order
to maintain the independence of India’s
foreign policy , it opted for the policy of non-
alignment, which aimed at opposing
imperialism, colonialism, apartheid and
supporting a balanced global economic order.
India’s decision to adopt the policy of non-
alignment was not appreciated in the Soviet
Union and interpreted as India’s pro- Western
policy. Certain tensions appeared in the Indo-
Soviet relations largely because of Stalin’s
rigid approach implying that all those who
were not communists were against the Soviet
Union. India’s support to Greece against
possible communist expansion caused
bitterness in the Indo- Soviet relationship.
Moreover India’s decision in 1949, to remain a
member of the Common Wealth , even after
becoming a republic caused irritation in the
Soviet Union.
Despite the irritants, India and Soviet
Union enjoyed a strong strategic, military,
economic and diplomatic relationship. Mutual
visit of Indian then P.M Jawaharlal Nehru to
Russia in June 1955 and return visit of Soviet
President Khrushev to India laid the function
for long mutually beneficial relationship
between the two countries. Soviet Union’s
support to India’s sovereignty over the
disputed territory of Kashmir and Portuguese
coastal enclaves in Goa etc were the major
gain for India from the traditional ally i.e,
Soviet Union.
A new dimension has been added to
the relationship between India and Soviet
Union ,with the signing of Indo- Soviet Treaty
of Peace, Friendship and co-operation on 9th
August,1971. Though this treaty was not a
military pact, it provided for the mutual
consultation in the case of security threat to
any party. Thus the treaty facilitated Soviet
Military assistance to India in case of military
aggression. The Soviet Union also came
forward to help India in its economic
development especially in setting up heavy
industries and in the field of defence, space,
nuclear energy etc.
In 1971, the two countries agreed for
stepping up cooperation in the exploration
and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
It was under this agreement that the first
Indian satellite Aryabhatta was launched on
from Soviet soil on 19 April 1975.
In December 1976, Soviet Union showed great
gesture of friendship towards India by
agreeing to supply 5.5 million tons of crude oil
over a period of four years against rupee
payments. This provided big relief to India at
a time when the OPEC countries had
announced big price hike of oil.
Despite intimate economic relations between
India and Soviet Union, certain irritants
appeared in their relations. India was not
quite happy with Soviet decision to provide
arms and military hardware to Pakistan.
Similarly, India lodged strong protest with
Soviet Union in 1970 for publication of certain
maps showing parts of NEFA and Aksai China
areas of India as part of China.
The Janata Party Government that assumed
office under the leadership of P.M
Morarji Desai traditionally maintained
friendly relations with the Soviet Union. On
the eve of election , Janata Party leaders had
emphasised ,what they called ‘genuine non-
alignment’ . This gave the impression that the
new government would change its policy
towards Soviet Union. But no such thing
happened. In fact Indo- Soviet relations were
further consolidated.
Foreign Minister Vajpayee reaffirmed
India’s commitment towards friendly
relations with the USSR. An agreement on
shipping was included on March 31, 1977.
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromkyo
visited India on April 25, 1977. Three new
agreements were concluded between the two
countries.
However, on some of the international
issues, like Afghanistan and Cambodia , the two
countries took opposite stand. India did not
endorse the pro- Vietnamese Soviet stand over
Cambodia and refused to recognise the
new regime in Cambodia. Similarly when
Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan , Indian
ambassador at U.N’S condemned the Soviet
Union.
Indo- Soviet relations were further
consolidated during the period that the two
countries were led by Rajiv Gandhi and
Mikhail Gorbachev. Rajiv Gandhi asserted a
number of times that the Soviet Union had
stood by India in all difficult times. He went on
a 6- day visit to the Soviet Union in May 1985.
He was assured by Soviet leaders that they
were aware of India’s anxiety caused by
Pakistan’s nuclear weapon programme. Both
the countries signed agreements for economic
and technical cooperation whereby Soviet
assistance to India was considerably
increased.
The Indo- Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship
and Cooperation , renewed in 1991 for a
further period of 20 years. This was a proof
of sustained ties between the two countries
and in a way brought India under the Soviet
nuclear umbrella.
The Cold War had ended at the end of
1989, but a new environment had been
created in the Soviet Union by various
reforms initiated by Party General Secretary
Gorbachev. After a brief period of lack of
warmth , P.M V.P Singh paid a visit to the USSR
in 1990. This renewed the warmth in bi-
lateral relations.
During 1990-1991, India generally
supported the position taken by the Soviet
Union in the Gulf Crisis. India like the Soviet
Union, had decided to further consolidate
relations with the PLO and yet initiated steps
to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
Indo- Russian relations : Post – 1991
The Soviet Union was disintegrated in
December 1991 and the mighty state of USSR
was replaced by 15 republics. Russian
Republic was recognized by the international
community as the successor state of USSR. At
the time of disintegration, a loose union of
erstwhile Soviet Republics was created and
called the Common Wealth of Independent
States. India has maintained friendly relations
not only with Russian Federation but also
with the other members of CIS.
In 1991, India extended food credit and
gift of 20,000 tonnes of rice to the USSR. India
and Russia entered into a new Treaty of Friend
ship and Cooperation in January 1993 and a
bi- lateral Military- Technical Cooperation
agreement in 1994.
An Indo- Russian summit was held in 1997
when P.M H.D Deve Gowda visited Moscow
and had extensive discussions with President
Boris Yeltsin and P.M Victor Chernomyrdin.
The visit turned out to be a high water mark
and several agreements were signed at the
conclusion of these talks.
Indo- Russian relations continued to be
strenghtened by Putin and Vajpayee
governments. President Putin paid a highly
successful visit to India in October 2000. The
two countries chalked out steps to set their
bilateral relationship on a new footing,
reworking past agreements on bilateral
cooperation.
During the 2010 visit of President Dmitry
Medvedev the relationship was elevated to
the status of a Special and Privileged Strategic
Partnership.
India participated as Guest Country in the St
Petersburg International Economic Forum
2017. P.M Modi was the Guest of Honour.
During this time, the 18th Annual Bilateral
Summit was also held, which saw the
adoption of the historic St. Petersburg
Declaration: Vision for the 21st Century and
signing of 12 agreements in economic and
political areas.
In October 2018, India linked the historic
agreement worth USS5.43 billion with Russia
to procure 4 S- 400 Triumf surface – to- air
missile defence system.