Introduction:
The relations between India and Russia are one of “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” and the ongoing military contracts between the two sides will be maintained and in a number of cases will be taken forward in a shorter time, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. Singh, who was in Moscow on a three-day visit at the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Defence to attend the 75th Anniversary of Victory Day Parade, said his visit to Moscow was the first foreign visit from India of an official delegation after the COVID-19 pandemic. All our proposals have received positive responses from the Russian side. I am fully satisfied with my discussions,” Singh said, indicating the timely delivery of the S-400 missile defence systems to India. Moscow was to begin the delivery of the system by the second half of next year. Russia has been one of India’s key suppliers of arms and ammunition. However, it has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time affecting maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
India and Russia:
- India has a historical relationship with Russia, spanning over seven decades.
- While the relationship has grown in some areas and atrophied in some others, the strongest pillar of the strategic partnership is of the defence basket.
- Although New Delhi has consciously diversified its new purchases from other countries, the bulk of its defence equipment is from Russia. Estimates say 60 to 70 per cent of India’s supplies are from Russia, and New Delhi needs a regular and reliable supply of spare parts from the Russian defence industry. In fact, Prime Minister Modi has held informal summits with only two leaders — Xi and Putin.
- India has made this decision to reach out to Russia not just out of choice, but also out of necessity, since it believes Moscow has leverage and influence to shape and change Beijing’s hard stance on border issue.
- At this time when there is tension at the border, Defence Minister Singh have discussed supply and purchase of new defence systems — like the S-400 missile defence system — with the Russian top brass in the military and government.
India Russia defence trade:
- While India and Russia’s economic relationship has been a weak point in the post-Cold War period, the most glaring sign of the stagnation may yet be that in 2014, the US emerged as the top arms supplier to India, pushing Russia to the second position based on data for the preceding three years.
- At the same time, India became the top foreign buyer of US weapons in 2014.
- Given that the military-technical ties were historically the bedrock of India and Russia’s relationship, a drop in the sector was a clear matter of concern.
- While in overall terms, Russia remained India’s top supplier of defence items during the period 2014-18, the total exports fell by 42 percent between 2014-18 and 2009-13.
- Russia still commands 58 percent of total arms imports by India, followed by Israel and the US at 15 and 12 percent, respectively.
- Despite this, Russia’s market share ensures that the country remains a critical supplier to India, both of new arms and spare parts.
- The military-technical cooperation that includes transfer of technology and joint production is a unique relationship that is extremely valuable to India.
- Also, the low of 2014 has since been corrected and in 2016, crucial inter-government agreements were signed at the annual summit including the supply of S-400 Triumph Air Defence Missile System and four Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates (2018), as well as a shareholder deal regarding the manufacture of Ka-226T helicopters in India.
Reasons for decline in Defence trade:
- Several factors have been identified for the gradual decline in the orders of India from Russia.
- India’s desire to diversify its defence imports and therefore a heightened competition for Russia with other suppliers; and dissatisfaction in India with post-sales services and maintenance being offered by Russia.
- Moreover, India has also had concerns in the past regarding supply and servicing of defence supplies. Some of these included a five-year delay in the delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (later renamed INS Vikramaditya) as well as its cost escalation from $974 million to $2.35 billion.
- India was also displeased by the high cost and low quality of spare parts for weaponry imported from Russia in the past, as well as delays in the supply.
Recent developments:
- In a step forward towards addressing the issue of regular spares and support for Russian military equipment with the armed forces, 14 MoUs were signed between Indian and Russian companies for setting up joint ventures covering a range of equipment from modern T-90 tanks to legacy Pechora air defence systems.
- The MoUs were signed during the 5th India Russia military industry conference held during the Defexpo 2020 in Lucknow.
- They come under the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on joint manufacturing of spares in India signed last September for mutual cooperation in manufacturing of spares, components, aggregates and other material related to Russian or Soviet-origin arms and defence equipment.
- The first ‘Request for Proposal’ for manufacturing of parts in India under the provision of IGA was also handed over by the Navy to the identified Indian industry.
- One MoU was signed between the Spetz-Radio Corporation of Russia and the Ananth Technologies based in Hyderabad for the “development, production and manufacture of small spacecraft for remote sensing”.
- “Joint creation and commercial use [providing a radio frequency resource] of a network of ground control stations for small spacecraft and a network of ground stations for the reception and processing of earth remote sensing data.
- One important MoU was signed between the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and the Almaz Antey of Russia for exploring the feasibility of establishing a joint venture in India for the production of various sub systems of “air defence missile systems like Tunguska, Kavadrat, the OSA-AKA, Pechora air defence system as well as the Shilka self-propelled air defence gun system”.
- The MoU also covered refurbishment and life extension of the missiles.
- Most of these air defence systems are now in the process of being phased out and replaced with new ones.
- There are also agreements on emerging technologies — Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain and robotics based on Russian technologies under the proposed Indo-Russian Joint Venture ICT Center of Excellence.
