By Vishnu Makhijani, IANS
Moscow : Pragmatism and economics in equal measure drive the now burgeoning India-Russia defence ties that had remained dormant for almost a decade following the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
This was very evident from the positions taken by the two countries during Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s just concluded visit to Moscow, his first after assuming office last October.
Seventy percent of the hardware in the inventory of the Indian armed forces is of Soviet or Russian origin, with equipment worth some $30 billion being acquired since the 1960s.
However, India turned to new suppliers from the 1990s onwards. Expectedly, this became a matter of concern for Russia. But it is only now that both Moscow and New Delhi are addressing issues that have been simmering for almost a decade.
“It’s like this,” an Indian official here explained: “Our relations are like that between two people who have differences. You wake up in the morning wanting to fight. Then you talk in the afternoon. Then in the evening, you say you will talk on the morrow.”
That there are major differences in three areas is quite evident.
The first relates to the higher prices Russia is demanding for the military hardware that has already been contracted for. The Russians say this has become necessary due to rising inflation and the depreciating dollar.
The second is India’s grouse about the quality and performance of Russian military hardware.
A third factor was then added, with Russia saying a key clause in India’s new defence purchase procedures is in conflict with its domestic laws.
Despite this, it was announced Thursday that the two countries had begun talks on extending beyond 2010 their decade-old pact on military cooperation that had been enunciated during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in 2000.
Strike one for pragmatism and economics. So, how did it happen?
It was the third area of differences, which relates to an Integrity Clause mandated by India’s new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) enunciated in 2006 that was thought to be the most contentious – but it now emerges that Moscow is tackling this head on.
Proof of this was a single line in the speech of Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov at the concluding session of the India Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC) that he and Antony co-chaired here Wednesday-Thursday.
“We are making efforts to follow best (international) practices (in future India-Russia defence deals),” Serdyukov said, a statement that almost went unnoticed.
The declaration was in response to Antony’s reminder Wednesday that India was doing its utmost to ensure transparency in future defence deals and that an Integrity Clause would be incorporated into all such agreements.
The clause mandates punishment for those found guilty of corruption in defence deals, return of the bribe money and possible cancellation of the deal itself. The Russians are known to have opposed the clause on the ground it violated the country’s domestic laws as all defence manufacturing units here are state-owned.
Serdyukov’s statement signals a paradigm shift in the thinking of the Russian military establishment.
Till 1991, the Soviet Union had to deal only with client Warsaw Pact states and with countries like India and Iraq whom it could virtually arm-twist into accepting the prices it demanded for its military hardware.
To an extent, the Russian Federation that emerged post-1991 continued with the same practices but from the late 1990s, faced a situation in which India began to look elsewhere – notably towards Israel – for its military hardware.
India annually conducts some $1.5 billion worth of defence deals with Russia, but with a similar amount having gone to Israel in the past five years, alarm bells had begun to ring in Moscow – and more so in the light of the now troubled India-US civilian nuclear deal that was thought to open up India’s defence market to the American military-industrial combine.
That deal might be dead for now but the Russian defence minister’s statement is proof enough that Moscow is not willing to take any chances.
Strike two for pragmatism and economics.
Then, the price issue has been partially addressed by top officials of the two countries who conducted protracted negotiations in Moscow and New Delhi ahead of the IRIGC meeting.
Russia was demanding a five percent hike in the price of 40 additional Sukhoi Su-30MKI jets the Indian Air Force (IAF) wants to purchase in addition to the 190 already contracted for. India has agreed to a formula under which the escalation would hover around four percent.
At the same time, India is resisting the higher price Russia is demanding for the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov that has been purchased by the Indian Navy, with a technical committee being appointed to examine whether the escalation is justified.
Strike three for pragmatism and economics.
As for Indian complaints about the quality and performance of Russian military hardware, officials here say they are “seriously” looking at this.
Pre-1991, they wouldn’t have as much as “looked” at this, let alone “seriously”.
Strike four for pragmatism and economics.
The bottom line: India is just too big a market and the Russian military establishment can ill afford to let it slip away.