Rusi topi, red or not-Vodka cocktails: The Indo-Russian relationship 21 Dec, 2010,

21 Dec, 2010, 07.30AM IST,ET Bureau

Rusi topi, red or not


With Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's current visit, leaders of all the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have visited India in the last six months. The point is not to bask in such recognition of India's growing strategic importance in a world where economic clout is far more widely distributed than military and political might.

Rather, the challenge is to keep level-headed focus, amidst all the ardent wooing by the world's A-listers, on India's own self-interest. This lies in building strong relationships with every key player, not becoming a willing pawn in someone else's chess game, and building India's own capabilities.

The US took the initiative to remove India's nuclear untouchability, opening the way for ending a long regime of technology denial, in the hope of India emerging as a counterweight to China in the region. This is good for India, but does not shackle us in any eternal ties of gratitude. New friendships are meant to enlarge the circle of engagement, not to cut out old ones.

India has had a special relationship with Russia during and after the Soviet period, with special focus on strategic ties. While commercial considerations are now important, as is evident in the pricing of defence equipment, they do not supplant strategic ones. India and Russia have common interests in Afghanistan, in Iran and in battling Islamist terror without generalising it into a clash of civilisations.

India has to show more imagination and intelligence in taking the relationship forward, beyond the obvious and extant areas of collaboration in defence production and energy. Participation in new ventures in Skolkovo, the Russian answer to Silicon Valley, is one, possibly with special focus on cyber security. Enhancing collaboration in space is another.

Truly pathbreaking would be marrying India's flair for entrepreneurship with Russian capability in, say, aircraft design and engines, to produce commercial aircraft, demand for which is growing fast in emerging markets. People-to-people exchanges in sports, culture and education - India can offer respectable management education - is another area for expansion, among the many that deserve to be explored.

With Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's current visit, leaders of all the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have visited India in the last six months. The point is not to bask in such recognition of India's growing strategic importance in a world where economic clout is far more widely distributed than military and political might.

Rather, the challenge is to keep level-headed focus, amidst all the ardent wooing by the world's A-listers, on India's own self-interest. This lies in building strong relationships with every key player, not becoming a willing pawn in someone else's chess game, and building India's own capabilities.

The US took the initiative to remove India's nuclear untouchability, opening the way for ending a long regime of technology denial, in the hope of India emerging as a counterweight to China in the region. This is good for India, but does not shackle us in any eternal ties of gratitude. New friendships are meant to enlarge the circle of engagement, not to cut out old ones.

India has had a special relationship with Russia during and after the Soviet period, with special focus on strategic ties. While commercial considerations are now important, as is evident in the pricing of defence equipment, they do not supplant strategic ones. India and Russia have common interests in Afghanistan, in Iran and in battling Islamist terror without generalising it into a clash of civilisations.

India has to show more imagination and intelligence in taking the relationship forward, beyond the obvious and extant areas of collaboration in defence production and energy. Participation in new ventures in Skolkovo, the Russian answer to Silicon Valley, is one, possibly with special focus on cyber security. Enhancing collaboration in space is another.

Truly pathbreaking would be marrying India's flair for entrepreneurship with Russian capability in, say, aircraft design and engines, to produce commercial aircraft, demand for which is growing fast in emerging markets. People-to-people exchanges in sports, culture and education - India can offer respectable management education - is another area for expansion, among the many that deserve to be explored.