Russian President Putin’s India Visit : Major Takeaways

By Deepak Parvatiyar

December 15, 2014

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s India visit (December 11 and 12) was crucial in more than one respect. In particular, it was constantly under the scrutiny of the West.

Putin was invited in July by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 15th Annual Summit between the two countries.

The shadow of Ukraine Issue Loomed Large over Putin’s Visit

The visit, in the backdrop of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, had its controversial moments following the unannounced presence of Servey Aksyonov, the Prime Minister of Crimea – a former Ukrainean territory annexed by Russia.

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Aksyonov, who travelled on Putin’s plane, had some ‘private’ meetings with some business groups and India distanced itself from such meetings and no Indian official was present there.

India did have to do some tightrope walking over the issue as it had to convince the USA that it was not ”officially aware” of Aksyonov’s presence in Putin’s delegation.

Putin is already being hounded by the West over the Ukraine issue. On November 16, he had walked out of the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia after being snubbed by the West who warned of new sanctions on Russia unless Moscow stopped backing separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian President, who only recently has been declared as the most powerful man on earth for the second year in succession by Forbes – edging out the US President Barrack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping – has been defiant to such pressure tactics thus far. The inclusion of Aksyonov in this delegation to India reiterates such defiance.

India-Russia Ties Reinforced by Putin’s Visit

Yet, besides this aberration, Putin’s visit proves that India has remained a trusted ally of Russia. It has chosen to side with Putin and does not support Western sanctions against Russia even as the USA attempts to isolate him for his invasion of Ukraine. At the BRICS summit in Brazil in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had even managed to get the Summit endorse his support to Putin.

New Delhi is crucial in Moscow’s scheme of things at a time when Putin is looking east towards India and China as Western sanctions have affected the Russian economy – its currency has crashed, business affected and its energy revenues, the backbone of Russian economy, plummeted with the global fall in oil prices.

Bilateral Agreements Signed during Putin’s Visit

India-Russia joint declaration during Putin’s visit is a reiteration of bilateral trust. India has stood by Russia and has committed to extend its support to Moscow in “multilateral fora such as G20, EAS, BRICS and RIC”. In return, Putin reassured India of his support for the full membership of the United Nations Security Council.

The two sides came out with a vision document “for strengthening” their partnership over the next decade. The document covers areas such as energy, technology and innovation, expanded economic engagement, global order and world peace, people to people ties, and bilateral perspectives.

An important decision with larger economic implication during Putin’s visit has been an agreement to encourage payments in national currencies for bilateral trade. The leaders set US$ 30 billion as target of bilateral trade turnover of goods and services by the year 2025.
Another crucial takeaway from Putin’s visit has been getting Russia’s commitment to invest in major infrastructure projects like DMIC, Smart Cities and Freight Corridors, as well as in broader sectors like telecom, power and roads, in India. Besides, Russia would facilitate Indian participation in Industrial Parks and in sectors like coal and energy, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals.

Both sides also decided to encourage “specialised investment funds” to invest in these sectors.

India-Russia Partnership Strengthened in Defence and Energy Sectors

India’s deep defence ties with Russia are time-tested. However, as more markets and countries such as the USA, China and Japan are opening up to New Delhi, it was imperative for Modi to acknowledge this historical fact. In a joint press conference with Putin in New Delhi, he did mention that Russia would remain India’s “most important” defence partner “even if India’s options have increased”.

Russia offered to make its most advanced helicopter in India in response of Modi’s ‘Make in India’ call – thus becoming the first country to respond to the call.

Yet it has been in the energy sector that Russia eyes India as a crucial partner.

Putin, even before his arrival at New Delhi, had sounded in an interview that nuclear energy cooperation has been one of the pillars of the Indo-Russia strategic partnership. Russian obviously has been one ally crucial to India’s nuclear programme as the India-US nuclear deal is yet to be implemented on the ground and the India-Japan deal is yet to be clinched.

During Putin’s visit, Russia agreed to help India build at least 10 more nuclear reactors, with India-made nuclear components. Besides, both countries also agreed to collaborate on a $1bn joint venture to support hydro-electric power projects in India.

Russian oil producer Rosneft also signed a deal to r supply 10 million tonnes of oil to India every year.

US is Wary of India-Russia Cooperation

However, the USA has sounded a word of caution on such deals as it maintains that this is not the right time for “business as usual” with Moscow. It waits for the “specifics” of the Indo-Russian deals now. To what extent Putin’s New Delhi visit will impact Indo-US ties is to be seen.

Yet, Modi has deftly handled the fissures of international diplomacy in his tenure thus far. All eyes would be on his dealing with the US president Barrack Obama, when he visits New Delhi as the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day parade. After all, US and India too eye fostering closer military ties with each other. As for now, Putin has stolen the show!