Putin to focus on economic ties on trip to India

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin arrives in India today on a visit intended to help cement Russia’s position in the growing Indian market and reinvigorate political ties.
Following Putin’s talks today with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian officials, Moscow and New Delhi will sign agreements on trade, science, education and law enforcement.
While the volume of Russian-Indian trade has risen sixfold since 2000 and is expected to reach $ 10 billion this year, the growth has slowed in recent years. And even though India remains the No. 1 customer for Russia’s arms industries, Moscow has recently lost several multibillion-dollar contracts to Western weapons-makers.
Russia and India have shared close ties since the Cold War, when Moscow was a key ally and the principal arms supplier to New Delhi. The ties slackened after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but grew stronger again after Putin came to power in 2000, seeking to revive Moscow’s global clout and restore ties with old allies.
Russia has maintained its strong positions in the Indian market with $ 30 billion worth of arms contracts with India signed in 2000-2010 that envisaged supplies of hundreds of fighter jets, missiles, tanks and other weapons, a large part of which were license-produced in India.
The countries have cooperated on building an advanced fighter plane and a new transport aircraft and have jointly developed a supersonic cruise missile for the Indian Navy.
Last year, Russia lost a tender to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 new fighter jets worth nearly $ 11 billion to France’s Dassault Rafale. And last month, Boeing won India’s order for a batch of heavy-lift helicopters worth $ 1.4 billion.
Igor Korotchenko, a retired colonel and now editor of National Defense magazine, said: “Competition in the Indian market is intensifying.”


Konstantin Makiyenko, the deputy head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, an independent Moscow-based think-tank specializing in weapons trade, said that the Russian failures were partly rooted in India’s desire to balance Russian gear with US and other Western weapons. “They welcome the Americans, and it’s impossible to prevent the strengthening of India-US ties,” he said.
Russia has sought to downplay recent defeats of its arms traders, saying that other weapons deals with India are under preparation.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters ahead of the visit, said military cooperation with India will “expand and deepen,” adding that concerns about Russia losing its dominance in the Indian arms market were exaggerated.
As part of its cooperation with India, Russia also has built the first reactor at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant and is building a second unit there.
The project has been delayed by protests by anti-nuclear groups and local residents.
Putin’s visit was scheduled for late October, but was delayed as the Russian leader suspended foreign travel for about two months.
The Kremlin admitted that he was suffering from a muscle pulled during judo training.
Putin resumed active travel earlier this month, making several foreign trips.