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Context

India and the U.S. signed COMCASA agreement on the side lines of the inaugural 2+2 dialogue.

India & US towards a strategic partnership

The defense relationship between the United States and India, on a steady upward trajectory this decade, crossed an important milestone last week. During the first-ever “two-plus-two” meeting of the two countries’ top defense and diplomatic officials, India and the United States concluded a third so-called foundational agreement to facilitate closer defense cooperation.

What is ‘2+2 dialogue’?

• A ‘two plus two dialogue’ is a term — adopted in foreign parleys — used for installation of a dialogue mechanism between two countries’ defence and external affairs ministries.
• To put it simply, ‘two plus two dialogue’ is an expression used to indicate that two appointed ministers from each country, the ministers of defence and external affairs in this case, will meet up to discuss the two countries’ strategic and security interests.
• The goal is to establish a diplomatic, yet fruitful, conversation between the two countries’ respective heads of defence and external affairs.

What is the COMCASA?

• The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) is one of the four foundational agreements that a country needs to sign to become a major defence partner of the United States. The agreement comes into effect immediately and has a lifespan of 10 years.

  • The other three agreements are General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMoA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA).

  • COMCASA provides the legal framework for the US to part with its sensitive communication equipment and codes to enable transfer of real time operational information. This equipment is largely used for ground-to-air communication to enable best battle situation awareness.

  • It ensures that the militaries of the US and India can boost their “interoperability” as well as share operational intelligence in real-time in the years ahead.

  • For instance, if a US warship or aircraft detects a Chinese submarine in the Indian Ocean, it can convey to India through warships or aircraft equipped with COMCASA-protected equipment in real-time.

  • COMCASA allows the US to transfer high-tech avionics, encrypted communication and electronic systems as well as ensure secrecy of its C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems

• Previously, India and U.S. signed the “Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)”, for mutual logistic assistance between their militaries.

Logistical Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) formerly known as the Logistic Support Agreement (LSA)

• LEMOA is an agreement for the exchange of logistics support and supplies that are generally required during combined exercises, port calls and cooperative efforts in unforeseen exigencies like in an HADR situation.
• The agreement is not expected to serve as a mutual defence treaty.

Negotiations on the third agreement, “Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA)”, have not yet begun.

Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)

• It provides for sharing and data gathering of geospatial information.
• It is expected to provide access to unclassified geospatial data that improves navigation planning for exercises and geospatial training for coproducing geospatial products; this is an area where India has limited technical/technological expertise.

What are the reasons for the US’s keenness to sign the agreement?

• India-US trade (in goods) as a percentage of the US total, inched from 1.5 per cent in 2010 to 1.9 per cent in 2017 with Washington having an unfavourable trade balance of more than 30 per cent of the total value of trade.
• With a weak indigenous military-industrial base, India’s appetite for imported defence equipment is virtually insatiable. It has made India the largest importer of defence equipment with 12 per cent of the world share (2013-17).
• To take advantage of India’s defence market, the US pushed for the agreement and it was not due to any new vector in the US strategic calculus. And without the agreement, which secures the integrity of US manufactured defence equipment, it cannot sell platforms with the capability that India desires.
• U.S. officials state that India’s armed forces are currently dependent on less secure, commercially available communication systems for surveillance.
• These platforms are, therefore a hindrance in real time data sharing with friendly militaries, and seamless interoperability during joint missions.
• Hence, COMCASA will facilitate the Indian military to use of high-end secured communication equipment from the U.S.

Significance of COMCASA

• The signing of COMCASA will enable India to access advanced technologies from the US and enhance India’s defence preparedness.

• The pact guarantees India access to critical US defence technologies and communication network to help the militaries of the two countries in their interoperability.

• Outside of interoperability, COMCASA will also open up the possibility of Indian military units gaining access to a secure Common Tactical Picture, which would allow, for instance, Indian Navy and Air Force surveillance aircraft and fighters to receive data from U.S. and friendly counterparts during exercises or operations.
• Additionally, given India’s access to previously restricted U.S. defense technology exports following its 2016 designation as a Major Defense Partner, COMCASA will open up the possibility of India importing U.S. systems unencumbered by possible limitations on guidance, communication, and sensor technologies.
• COMCASA will allow India to procure transfer specialised equipment for encrypted communications for US origin military platforms like the C-17, C-130 and P-8Is
• COMCASA will effectively mean that India shares the real-time American intelligence on military deployments by China and Pakistan
• COMCASA becomes particularly important as India is set to buy the combat version of Sea Guardian drones from the United States. The US would not have provided India with the weapon systems on the drone without COMCASA
• However, the signing of agreement does not mean that India would have to necessarily buy American military equipment
• Before signing the agreement, India made sure that it gets full access to equipment. There is no commitment on acquisition and there will be no disruption as well.
• As a consequence of COMCASA, India will get access to Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System, or CENTRIXS, which is the secure communication system network of the US.
• Navy ships with CENTRIXS on board can communicate securely with the U.S. Navy when needed and can benefit from the wider situational picture of the region as they have a large number of ships and aircraft deployed. This will reduce the stress on the assets and allow prioritising the deployments more efficiently.
• CENTRIXS consists of a collection of coalition wide area networks (WAN) known as enclaves” and is a “great enabler, allowing ship-to-ship operational dialogue between the two nations in text and web-based formats.

Safeguards

• It is believed that there are persistent concerns that this would allow U.S. Navy access to India’s own secure communication network and also that the information shared with the U.S. will be accessible by Pakistan.
• Officials brushed aside these fears as specific measures have been incorporated in the agreement to “have full access to the relevant equipment and there will be no disruptions”.
• Data acquired through such systems cannot be disclosed or transferred to any person or entity without India’s consent.
• Experts point out that the equipment administered under communications safety pacts does not provide access to onboard systems and databases in ways that compromise classified information.
• It is an enabling instrument and does not commit India to acquiring U.S. platforms.

ISSUES/ CRITICISM:

• The agreement will not be a gateway to US technology either. On the other hand, it can kill the fledgling Indian defence industry.
• The  Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route, which the US often prefers, discourages technology transfer and even offsets. In any case, the US does not part with its technology easily.
• Therefore, unless we aggressively negotiate each import from the US to strengthen our defence base, the 2+2 dialogue will aggregate to minus one.
• Concerns have also been raised as to how signing COMCASA will “enhance Russia’s fears of compromising its high-value platforms, such as the leased Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and the Su-30MKI combat aircraft” and that it will cause trouble with Russia.

India as defence partner of the United States 

How Defence Cooperation has been evolved over a period of time:

• Two parallel tracks of dialogue began in the 1990s. The strategic dialogue covering nuclear issues shifted gears following the nuclear tests of 1998 and imposition of sanctions by the U.S.
• The over a dozen rounds of talks between both the countries during 1998-2000 marked the most intense dialogue between the two countries. It helped change perceptions leading to the gradual lifting of sanctions.
• The next phase was the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership steered by the then National Security Advisers, Brajesh Mishra and Condoleezza Rice.
• The momentum received a new impulse, eventually leading to the conclusion of the India-U.S. bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement in 2008.
• The defence dialogue began in 1995 with the setting up of the Defence Policy Group at the level of the Defence Secretary and his Pentagon counterpart and three Steering Groups to develop exchanges between the Services.
• A decade later, this was formalised and enlarged into the India-U.S. Defence Framework Agreementwhich was renewed for 10 years in 2015.
• Today, the U.S. is the country with which India undertakes the largest number of military exercises which have gradually evolved in scale and complexity.
• During the Cold War, more than three-fourths of India’s defence equipment was of Soviet origin. This gradually began to change, and in recent years, the U.S. and Israel emerged as major suppliers.

Engaging with Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and the Indian Army:

• The Indian Air Force went in for C-130J Hercules and the C-17 Globemaster aircraft, along with Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.
• The Indian Navy acquired a troop carrier ship and the P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft. An agreement for 24 multi-role helicopters for the Indian Navy is expected soon.
• The Indian Army went in for the M-777 howitzers and artillery radars. From a total of less than $400 million of defence acquisitions during 1947-2005, the U.S. has signed defence contracts of over $15 billion since.
• During the Obama administration, the US understood that a defence supply relationship needed to be backed by technology sharing and joint development and came up with the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTII).
• To get around export control licensing and other bureaucratic hurdles, an India Rapid Reaction Cell in the Pentagon was set up. In 2016, India was designated as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ country.
• Another step forward in the middle of this year was the inclusion of India in the Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) category, putting it on a par with allies in terms of technology access.
• The U.S. proposed its standard logistics support agreement text in 2003 which was finally concluded in 2016, after it was made into an India-specific text.
• It facilitates logistics supplies during port visits and joint exercises and does not contain any obligations for joint activity or any basing arrangements.
• The India-specific Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), is likely to be signed.
• With the possibility of acquiring armed Sea Guardian drones, COMCASA was necessary to ensure optimal use.

Conclusion:

It is important to recognize that Comcasa is an operational imperative for the Indian Armed Forces. Not only is the pact an useful enabler of operations interoperability with the US military, it is a legal instrument that facilitates the optimal exploitation of high-end communication equipment acquired from the US. India sceptics must know that there are no good remedies for imagined fears.

Background

• The time difference between the westernmost part of India and the easternmost point is approximately two hours, the effect of which is that the sun rises and sets much earlier than it does in the rest of the country.
• Most Indians are not particularly worried about Indian Standard Time (IST), except for those who live in the Northeast where the sun rises around 4 a.m. in summer and gets dark well before 4 p.m. in winter.

TIME IS MAINTAINED BY THIS METHOD

• If lines of longitude are drawn precisely a degree apart, they will divide the Earth into 360 zones/ imaginary lines called longitudes or meridians running vertically between the poles.
• Because the Earth spins 360° in 24 hours, a longitudinal distance of 15° represents a time separation of 1 hour, and 1° represents 4 minutes.

NOTES

• The geographic “zero line” runs through Greenwich, London. 
  It identifies GMT, now known as Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), which is maintained by the Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in France.
• Indian Standard Time, maintained by CSIR-NPL, is based on a line of longitude that runs through Mirzapur in UP (Centre for measuring time by the Indian government).
• At 82°33’E, the line is 82.5° east of Greenwich, or 5.5 hours (5 hours 30 minutes) ahead of UCT. While India follows one IST, the United States follows several time zones across its breadth.

Context: A new report advocating 2 time zones in India

• A proposal for two time zones has come from India’s national timekeeper itself.
• Scientists at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) have now argued that IST should be done away with at the Chicken’s Neck.
• There is a request to change the temporal modalities of the Indian nation-state from its official time-keeper.

Why there is a necessity of two time zones:

• Over the years, various citizens and political leaders have debated whether India should have two separate time zones.
• The demand is based on the huge difference in daylight times between the country’s longitudinal extremes, and the costs associated with following the same time zone.
• Those arguing against the idea, on the other hand, cite impracticability particularly the risk of railway accidents, given the need to reset times at every crossing from one time zone into another.
• Legislators, activists, industrialists and ordinary citizens from the Northeast have often complained about the effect of IST on their lives, and pursued the issue of having a separate time zone with the Central government, without much success.
• In the Northeast, the sun rises as early as four in the morning and in winter it sets by four in the evening. By the time government offices or educational institutions open, many daylight hours are already lost.
• In winter this problem gets even more accentuated and the ecological costs are a disaster with much more electricity having to be consumed.

 THE ISSUE OF DAYLIGHT

• There is also the practice in several countries, of “Daylight Saving Time” (DST), wherein the time in summer is advanced (or the clocks put forward) by one hour and retracted during winter.
• This enables people to enjoy sunlight longer in summer and avoid the inconveniences of late sunrises and early sunsets during winter.
• The time difference between the westernmost part of India and the easternmost point is approximately two hours, the effect of which is that the sun rises and sets much earlier than it does in the rest of the country.
• Most Indians are not particularly worried about Indian Standard Time (IST), except for those who live in the Northeast where the sun rises around 4 a.m. in summer and gets dark well before 4 p.m. in winter.

Problems of DST:

• If we were to introduce DST in India, the inconvenience of time adjustment during summer and winter months would involve the whole country, happening twice a year, with marginal benefits.
• The possibilities of rail accidents would still be high. Even in the U.S. and Canada, road accidents increase discernibly in the days immediately following the change.
• Daylight saving time, this small time shift can significantly raise the risk of health-related issues.
• A 2016 study found that the overall rate for stroke was 8% higher in the two days after daylight saving time. Cancer victims were 25% more likely to have a stroke during that time, and people older than 65 were 20% more likely to have a stroke.

Possible Impact of change in time zones:

• Northeast India would move an hour ahead, increasing the region’s productive, daylight hours and the country’s potential energy savings could amount to a whopping 20 million kWh a year.
• Offices could open sooner after sunrise, and perhaps workers could even savour the last dregs of dusk as they trudge towards home or their desired form of recreation.
• Biomedical research has consistently pointed to the physical and psychological benefits of aligning circadian (sleep) rhythms to the sun’s rising and setting.

Problems of different time zones in India:

India has a huge population; if the country were divided into two time zones, there would be chaos at the border between the two zones. It would mean resetting clocks with each crossing of the time zone.

There is scope for more dangerous kinds of confusion.

• Railway signals are not fully automated and many routes have single tracks.
• Trains may meet with major accidents owing to human errors. Just one such accident would wipe out any benefits resulting from different time zones in the country.

Partitioning the already divided country further into time zones may also have undesirable political consequences. Moreover, our research shows that energy saving from creating two time zones is not particularly large.

While there is merit in the argument, the potentially adverse consequences of introducing a new time zone within the country are many.

For Instance, Not forgetting the fact that a country like Russia has as many as nine time zones across the contiguous territory, having to cope with the zones and to be forced to reset the watch each time you need to cross a domestic line could be complicated.

With a time difference of one hour in the mornings and in the evenings, there would be nearly 25% less overlap between office timings in the two zones. This could be important for banks, offices, industries and multinational companies which need to be constantly interconnected.

This will be further detrimental to productivity and to the interests of the eastern region.

There is already a sense of alienation between the relatively prosperous and industrialised western zone and the less developed eastern zone. The people in the Northeast sense a distance from the mainland and a separateness in clock time may accentuate it.

Having a separate time zone for the eastern region will provide no energy or other benefits to the rest of the country.

Moreover, India will continue to be in off-set time zones, five and a half hours in the west and six and a half in the eastern region ahead of.

Hurdles in implementation:

• A long-standing argument against doing away with IST has been it would confuse the railway infrastructure.
• In a country with so many diversities to amalgamate into a proverbial unity, asking the people of the Northeast to wake up an hour earlier might lead to yet another point of difference.

Alternative to the present proposal:

• One proposal is to introduce neither time zones nor DST but to advance IST by half an hour to being six hours ahead of GMT, once and permanently.
• Such a suggestion has been made before, but until now no one has computed the energy savings that would accrue as a result using a correct model and dependable data.
• This proposal of advancing IST by half an hour avoids the problems apprehended in the other two proposals (of time zones and DST) but provides maximum energy saving during evening hours when the utilities fail to supply continuous power

Conclusion:

• It is now time to initiate a process of consultation to consider all sides of the question afresh.
• What might be seriously examined is a proposal of some researchers, including those from the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore and Scientists at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), to set the IST forward by half an hour so that it is six hours ahead of Universal Coordinated Time.
• This will mean advancing the point of reckoning at 82.5 degree East to 90 degrees East, which will fall at a longitude along the West Bengal-Assam border.
• That should go some way in meeting Assam’s demand, and help avoid potential grievances from northwestern India about corresponding inconveniences that an advancing by one full hour could entail for it in terms of late sunrise time.

CONTEXT

On October 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin came to hold the India-Russia annual summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi

Introduction

•  The friendship between India and Russia has stood the test of time, and that the ties would continue to scale new heights. Traditionally, the Indo-Russian strategic partnership has been built on five major components: politics, defence, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism co-operation and space.
• Though the two nations have had a longstanding partnership, it has been passing through a turbulent phase even as this relationship was elevated to Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in 2010.

Russia needs India as:

• A market for its goods to bypass Western sanctions imposed after its power push in Ukraine.
• The forthcoming Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership driven by the US will also force Russia to eye markets beyond Europe. India is a natural partner.
• Despite its renewed friendship with China, Russia will soon find itself in competition with it as Beijing regards itself as the new G2 along with the US.
• India can help provide the multi-polarity that Russia fiercely seeks.
• Even as India is diversifying its defense trade partners, Russia still dominates the Indian defense inventory to the tune of about 70 per cent.

India needs Russia because

• It can meet its abundant energy requirements at a cost-effective price.
• Despite expanding its defence purchases from the US, Israel and Europe, India still needs to collaborate with Russia to master future technology including for space.
• It improves India’s bargaining power when it negotiates arms sales with the West.
• Russia can be a major market for Indian industry such as pharmaceuticals, manufactured goods, dairy Products, bovine meat and frozen seafood.
• Geopolitically, Russia continues to be a balancing force against any designs China and Pakistan may have in our region.
• Russia remains the only partner that is still willing to give India critical technologies, such as a nuclear submarine.

Economic Ties

• Russia-India trade has not grown to great heights despite the encouragement of both states.
• Recently India and Russia decided to institutionalize the CEO’s Forum and agreed to liberalize business travel which will help boost bilateral trade  Russia sees India – one of the fastest growing economies in the world – as a country that could alleviate Russia’s economic problems.
• Make in India initiative would welcome Russian companies from the public and private sectors.
• Russian firms have shown a willingness to invest in India in construction, major infrastructure projects such as dedicated freight corridors and industrial clusters, smart cities, and engineering services, sharing technologies and skills.
• Indian companies are exploring major investment options in Russia, especially in natural resources∙ such as coal, fertilizers, hydrocarbons, minerals, and rare earth metals Trade and investment relations are not up to the mark and this needs improvements.

Energy Ties

• According to the International Energy Agency, India will cross Japan as the world’s third largest oil user this year, and is expected to have the highest rate of growth of crude demand globally through 2040.
• India has sought to establish a strong, long-term energy partnership with Russia. While some important deals like the Sakhalin oil and gas project have been a success.
• The sale of a 98% stake in Essar Oil to a consortium led by Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft is significant step in the process of deleveraging the balance sheets of Indian corporate.
• The Russia-India investments in the oil and gas sector and exports to third countries need to be energised.
• Russia is an important partner in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and it recognizes India as a country with advanced nuclear technology with an impeccable non-proliferation record.
• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is being built in India with Russian cooperation.
• The Rooppur project is the first initiative under an Indo-Russian deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries and it will also be the first time Indian firms will take part in such a project abroad.

Political Ties

• New Delhi needs Moscow’s support in the former’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council
• The Russians have backed the Indian position on Kashmir.
• India and Russia are engaged in several multilateral efforts that are greatly favoured by Russia such as the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
• Annual Summit meeting is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism under the Strategic Partnership

Defence Ties

• India-Russia military-technical cooperation has evolved from a simple buyer-seller framework to one involving joint research, development and production of advanced defence technologies and systems. Eg. BrahMos Missile System.
• The two countries also hold exchanges and training exercises between their armed forces annually. Eg. Peace Mission 2018 was held in Chebarkul, Russia.
• Indian government recently announced the purchase of five S-400 supersonic air defense systems from Russia, costing around $6 billion.
• Recent defense agreements have sent a strong message that New Delhi continues to view relations with Moscow an indispensible element of India’s foreign policy.
• India and Russia agreed to strengthen the defense partnership in line with the “Make in India” program, thereby developing a strong defense manufacturing base in India
• The boost to defense engagement will also help India contain the growing engagement between Russia and Pakistan.

Space Cooperation  

• India-Russia cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of outer space dates back to about four decades.
• 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of India’s first satellite “Aryabhatt” on a Russian launch vehicle ‘Soyuz.’
•  In June 2015, the space agencies have signed a MoU on expansion of cooperation in the field of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
• An agreement was signed between C-DAC and GLONASS for cooperation in technologies based on satellite navigation.

Issues of terrorism  

• Counterterrorism is another area where both countries find a convergence of interest. Both countries strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms, stressing the need for an effective∙ global effort in dealing with the terrorist menace.
• They also called for the elimination, once and for all, of all terrorist “safe havens,” presumably referring to Pakistan.
• India and Russia also share concerns about the aggravation of the security situation in Afghanistan, including along its borders.
• India openly shared Russia’s concerns over developments in Syria.
• India’s stance on Syria will certainly help cement its ties with Russia countering the earlier feeling that India was not coming forward to support Russia in difficult times.

Cultural Cooperation  

• There is a strong tradition of Indian studies in Russia. Apart from Hindi, languages such as Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Urdu, Sanskrit and Pali are taught in Russian Institutions.
• There is general interest among Russian people in Indian dance, music, yoga and Ayurveda.
• There are regular cultural initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts between India and Russia.
• The President of India inaugurated the Year of Indian Culture ‘Namaste Russia’ in Moscow on 10 May 2015.

 Russia-China-Pakistan Nexus and its impact on India-

• Even as India is trying to stabilise its defence ties with Russia, there are growing concerns in New Delhi about Russia’s increasing tilt towards Pakistan as it seeks to curry favour with China.
• Moscow had historically supported New Delhi at the UNSC by repeatedly vetoing resolutions on the Kashmir issue. Today, however, there is a change in how Moscow views its regional priorities in South Asia.
• In a significant development, the joint declaration issued at the end of the first-ever six-nation Speaker’s Conference in Islamabad held in December 2017 supported Pakistani line on Kashmir.
• This declaration signed by Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey underscored that “for ensuring global and regional peace and stability, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir needs peaceful resolution by Pakistan and India in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.”
• During his visit to New Delhi last year, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had publicly called on India to join China’s Belt and Road initiative and hoped that New Delhi will find a way out to benefit from the mega connectivity project without sacrificing its position on the issues flagged by it.
• Sino-Russian relationship has grown to an extent where the two are now participating in joint military exercises such as the recently concluded, Vostok-2018, underscoring the rapidly evolving nature of this relationship and a fluid global strategic environment. Both are now more unified than ever in posing a challenge to the US-led global order.
• New Delhi has long maintained that it needs a close relationship with Moscow so that the Beijing-Moscow relationship could be dented. But India’s Russia outreach seems to have had a rather insignificant impact so far on the Russia-China dynamic.
• Russia is also reaching out to Pakistan despite Indian reservations and is changing its tune on the Afghanistan issue. It is now a strong votary of negotiating with the Taliban and has given short shrift to Indian reservations in this regard.

Strain in the relationship 

India, of course, has a long-standing relationship with Russia but that is undergoing a shift in light of rapidly evolving geopolitical realities.

• The first concerns the rapidly expanding ties between India and USA, which started with the India-US nuclear deal in 2008.
• The second concerns the growing defence relationship between India and the USA.
• Russia’s decision to supply Pakistan with the Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters has alarmed the Indian defence establishment.
• The Russia-Pakistan joint exercises raise many questions
• India having its own military exercises with the U.S. and has signed logistics agreements which can eventually give the U.S. access to Indian naval bases.
• Russia had proposed a Russia-India-China (RIC) forum. India is hesitant about this because of the unresolved issues with China.

The need of the Hour

• As India resets its engagement with China and as Russia adjusts to its growing isolation in the western world, time has come for renewed Indo-Russian engagement.
• For a relationship that largely relies on defence and where the economic underpinnings are lagging, the need of the hour should be to have candid conversations about the current state of play in the relationship.
• India should pursue the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union and seek to play a more active role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a member.
• Need to give impetus to St. Petersburg declaration, there was a reference to India and Russia setting up an “energy corridor”.

HIGHLIGHTS of the 19th Indo-Russian annual bilateral summit

S-400 Triumf Surface to Air Missiles (SAM)

• Russia providing state of the art surface to air missile system, S-400 Triumf, to India has been the biggest takeaway. Besides the S-400 Triumf deal, India and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing military cooperation.

Space Exploration

• A crucial MoU was signed between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Federal Space Agency of Russia ‘ROSCOSMOS’ with respect to joint activities in the field of human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan.
• Russia has also agreed to set up data collection ground stations for India’s recently developed navigation system NaVIC.
• The two sides also agreed to develop cooperation on BRICS remote sensing satellite constellation.

Cochin Shipyard pact with Russia to boost water transport

• India’s Cochin Shipyard signed a pact with Russian firm United Shipbuilding Corporation to boost water transport. As per the pact, the Russian shipbuilding company will provide the technical support to develop advanced vessels suitable for inland waterways and coastal transportation.

Railways

• A memorandum of cooperation (MoC) signed between the Ministry of Railways and the Russian Railways.
• It includes the implementation of a ‘speed-upgradation project’ in the Nagpur-Secunderabad section, installation of a single traffic-control centre for efficient management of rail traffic at the local level, efficient practices in freight and cargo operations, development of multi-modal terminals and a mutual exchange of the advanced technologies used by the two countries.
• An additional MoU was also signed between the two countries for the cooperation in transport education & to organise educational transport seminars jointly.

Agriculture

• The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Indian Potash Ltd and producers of phosphate-containing fertilisers PhosAgro announced joint investments in mineral fertiliser production in Russia and India.
• As per the agreement, PhosAgro has agreed to supply a maximum of 2 million tonne (MT) during 2019-2021 which is estimated to have a potential value of $1 billion.

Economy

• The two countries reviewed the progress on the achievement of the objective to increase inter-depending investment to $30 billion by the year 2025.
• Russia and India have signed the MoU between National Small Industries Corporation of India and the Russian Small and Medium Business Corporation for boosting the economies through cooperation at a micro level.
• President Putin invited India to invest in the Russian Far Eastern region with India welcoming the decision to open an office of the Far East Agency in Mumbai.
• The Indian delegation, participated in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September 2018.

Agreement on consultation between the foreign ministries of Russia and India

• A ‘Protocol for Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs (India)’ was signed for the period 2019-2023. This was undertaken with an effort to execute a comprehensive policy vis-a-vis international relations of the two countries.

Conclusion  

India-Russia relationship is passing through an interesting phase. There are bilateral challenges that need to be overcome, but the global environment has provided opportunities to New Delhi and Moscow to re-calibrate their ties. It is up to the political leadership of the two nations to rise to the occasion.