Russia and India — Poliquicks
Russia and India
Russia and India held their sixth joint anti-terrorist military drills in August in Southern Siberia.
Southern Siberia yet.
Military/political pundits have said that the Joint military drills are laying the ground work for future full-scale military cooperation between the large block of pro-Russian nations in Asia.
India is the largest buyer of Russian arms with 80% on the Indian weapons coming from Russia.
Russia became the 156th member of the World Trade Organization ending a 18 year try. China said it was ready to increase trade with Russia.
The old Soviet relationship with India upset the Chinese and contributed to Sino-Soviet enmity during the Khrushchev period. The Soviet Union declared its neutrality during the 1959 border dispute and the war of 1962, although the Chinese strongly objected. The Soviet Union gave India substantial economic and military assistance during the Khrushchev period, and at one point India had received more Soviet assistance than China. This disparity became another point of contention in Sino-Soviet relations. In 1962 the Soviet Union agreed to transfer technology to co-produce the MiG-21 jet fighter in India, which the Soviet Union had earlier denied to China.
Aditionally, Russia plans to deliver the overhauled aircraft carrier Vikramaditya to the Indian Navy in the fourth quarter of 2013, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Wednesday after an intergovernmental meeting in New Delhi. The Vikramaditya, formerly the Russian Navy’s Admiral Gorshkov, which is already years past its original 2008 delivery date, was supposed to have been handed over on December 4, 2012, but sea trials in September revealed the ship’s boilers were not fully functional.
According to the Russian English newspaper, Ria Novosti, the ship has a displacement of 45,000 tons, and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots. It will have an air wing consisting of Russian-made MiG-29K jet fighter planes and Kamov Ka-31 early warning radar helicopters. Some of the MiG-29K fighters have already been delivered to India.
On 7 November 2009, India signed a new nuclear deal with Russia apart from the deals that were agreed upon by the two countries earlier. India and Russia are now in discussion for construction of two more nuclear power units at Kudankulam, India. The two units already set up are in operations.
Any discussion of U.S. and India improved working relations in the political/military field seems unlikely.