INDIA & RUSSIA : Military relations

INDIA & RUSSIA : Military relations

The Prime Minister of India, in collaboration with External Affairs Ministry, handles key foreign policy decisions. Shown here is the current Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh with the former President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Defence relations between India and the Russian Federation have a historical perspective. The Soviet Union was an important supplier of defence equipment for several decades, and that relationship was inherited by Russia after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Today, the cooperation is not limited to a buyer-seller relationship but includes joint research and development, training, service to service contacts, including joint exercises. The last joint naval exercises took place in April 2007 in the Sea of Japan and joint airborne exercises were held in September 2007 in Russia.

An Inter-Governmental commission on military-technical cooperation is co-chaired by the Defence Ministers of the two countries. The Seventh session of this Inter-Governmental Commission was held in October 2007 in Moscow. During the visit, an agreement on joint development and production of prospective multi role fighters was signed between the two countries.

An India–Russia co-operation agreement was signed in December 1988. It has resulted in the sale of a multitude of defence equipment to India and also the emergence of the countries as development partners as opposed to purely a buyer-seller relationship. Two programmes that evidence this approach are the projects to form Indian-Russian joint ventures to develop and produce the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) and the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA). The agreement is pending a 10-year extension.

India and Russia have several major joint military programs including:

• BrahMos cruise missile program
• 5th generation fighter jet program
• Sukhoi Su-30MKI program (230+ to be built by Hindustan Aeronautics)
• Ilyushin/HAL Tactical Transport Aircraft

Additionally, India has purchased/leased various military hardware from Russia:

• T-90S Bhishma with over 1000 to be built in India
• Akula-II nuclear submarine (2 to be leased with an option to buy when the lease expires)
• INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier program
• Tu-22M3 bombers (4 ordered)
• US$900 million upgrade of MiG-29
• Mil Mi-17 (80 ordered)
• Ilyushin Il-76 Candid (6 ordered to fit Israeli Phalcon radar)
• The Farkhor Air Base in Tajikistan is currently jointly operated by India and Russia.

However, more recently the defense relationship between India and Russia has been drifting apart. The relationship has been strained due to delays and frequent pricing changes for INS Vikramaditya, and repeated delays in delivery of several critical defense systems. In May 2011, Russia canceled joint army and naval exercises with India allegedly in response to the elimination of Mikoyan MiG-35 from the Indian MRCA competition.An Indian Navy report to the Ministry of Defence referred to Russia as a fair-weather friend and recommended the review of Russia's status as a strategic partner.