Frosty friendship

Published : Jan 18, 2008 00:00 IST

Russia demanded and secured a higher price than what was in the contract for 40 additional Sukhoi fighters for the IAF. Here, a file picture of an IL-78 tanker of the IAF refuelling two Sukhois in mid-air.-RAJEEV BHATT

Russia demanded and secured a higher price than what was in the contract for 40 additional Sukhoi fighters for the IAF. Here, a file picture of an IL-78 tanker of the IAF refuelling two Sukhois in mid-air.-RAJEEV BHATT

The noise made on the Admiral Gorshkov deal is a sign of India-Russia relations turning a bit sour.

Russia demanded and

IT has been obvious for quite some time that there is a fair bit of turbulence in India-Russia relations. Now, with the outspoken remarks of the new Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Suresh Mehta, on December 4, 2007, the rift seems to be out in the open. The Indian Navys grouse about the Russians pertains to the huge cost overrun and delay in the delivery of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened INS Vikramaditya. According to the initial contract, the Russian carrier was to have joined the Indian Navy in 2008 after the extensive refit specified by the Indian Navy was completed.

At present, the Indian Navy, which plans to compete with the fast-growing Chinese Navy for influence and power projection in the Indian Ocean region, has only one aircraft carrier the INS Viraat. Under normal circumstances this ship, dating from the 1950s, should have been mothballed years ago.

India had signed the contract to buy the Russian ship for $1.5 billion. According to reports, Russia is now demanding $1 billion more. India has already paid $450 million. India did not have many options at the time the deal was concluded. It was the only viable aircraft carrier that was available then. Today the situation is different. Many countries such as the United States, Italy and France are willing to sell their aircraft carriers. In fact, many small countries are phasing out their fleet of aircraft carriers.

It was evident for some time that the Russian side would not be able to stick to the deadline for delivery. By mid-2007, it had indicated that there was a big overrun in costs. Besides, it is pointed out now that the value of the U.S. dollar has been plummeting steadily in the past couple of years. The Russian rouble, on the other hand, is becoming stronger. There is a price escalation clause in most defence contracts.

Russia had also demanded a 5 per cent increase in the contracted price for the 40 additional Sukhois the Indian Air Force had contracted for. In October 2007, the Indian government agreed to pay an annual cost escalation of 5 per cent as against the original 2.8 per cent worked out in earlier deals. Indian Defence Ministry officials have said that the 5 per cent increase will also be applicable to the other big ticket items such as Admiral Gorshkov, T-90 tanks and stealth warships. Russia has been demanding an 18 per cent escalation, taking into consideration inflation and the depreciating value of the dollar.

The Indian side, as the Navy chief forcefully articulated, is not convinced by the Russian arguments. A sense of betrayal is palpable among the top naval brass. Admiral Suresh Mehta claimed that it was the contracts awarded by the Indian Navy to the idle Russian shipyards that resuscitated the industry there. Mehta said that Russia, owing to its booming economy and changing military priorities, was diverting its workforce in the naval dockyards for other projects. Suddenly they have become very rich. This may be affecting their thinking, he told the media.

The Russian Navy itself has been on an acquisition spree, keeping the shipyards busy. Many other countries are also queuing up for Russian weaponry. China is becoming Russias biggest client for naval ships, submarines and other craft. In the past two years it has already displaced India as the biggest buyer of arms from Russia. Countries such as Algeria, Venezuela, Vietnam, Iran and Syria have also placed big orders. Even Western countries, including North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) members such as Greece, are going in for military deals with Russia.

The days of privileged relationship that Moscow and New Delhi enjoyed, from the 1960s to the 1990s, seem to be definitively over, but Russia will remain a top defence partner of India in the foreseeable future.

Seventy per cent of the military hardware in the inventory of the Indian armed forces is of Russian origin. Moscow has pledged to supply nuclear-powered Akula class submarines to the Indian Navy on lease for seven years.

This will give the Indian Navy the expertise to run its own indigenous nuclear-powered submarines, considered to be a key to Indias quest for a credible nuclear deterrence capability. India has also contracted for IL-78 tanker aircraft to be used as a platform for Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), Mi-17-1V military transport helicopters, R-77 air-to-air missiles, Kilo class submarines, KA-31 Helix airborne early warning helicopters, air and sea surveillance radar and a host of other sophisticated equipment.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony was quick to distance the government from the remarks of the naval chief. The Minister said that the Admirals views did not represent the governments thinking on the subject.

Speaking a few days after Mehtas press conference, Antony strongly defended the long-standing military ties with Russia, adding that New Delhis close relationship with other countries would not have an impact on its ties with Moscow. Nobody should feel that our growing ties with other countries are at the cost of old friends, he said.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon emphasised that the relations with Russia continued to be excellent and that both countries can happily settle issues that arise from time to time. The Russian side is yet to be fully convinced and thinks that this is a good cop, bad cop act being orchestrated by the Indian political establishment.

Admiral Gorshkov, The

From the mid-1990s, starting from the Congress government led by P.V. Narasimha Rao, New Delhi had made the conscious decision to diversify its arms purchases. After the end of the Cold War, New Delhi started to weigh its strategic options seriously. The tilt towards the West had started in earnest. The Indian political establishment had already calculated that by entering into big defence deals with Western countries and their allies, India could gain more political and diplomatic leverage. Israel, which manufactures some key defence materiel under U.S. licence, has emerged as a big arms supplier to India, emerging as a close second to Russia in recent years.

The U.S. is now poised to supplant Israel as it prepares to sell sophisticated military items to India. In fact, there are reports that the Indian Navy is interested in buying USS Kitty Hawk, an ageing aircraft carrier, in case the delivery of Admiral Gorshkov gets inordinately delayed.

The Russian side was not happy when the contracts for the new avionics of the MiG-21s went to Israeli companies. There are reports that Moscow is not too happy with the Indian Air Force for allowing the Americans and Israelis to have a close look at the Su-30s and other advanced Indian weaponry during joint exercises. Moscow was also unhappy with Indias attempts to market the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles in South-East Asia. Many Indian commentators have said that New Delhi has still not come to terms with the fact that the days of friendship prices are over and now the relations are purely commercial. But the most important reason for the growing chasm between the two countries could be New Delhis open embrace of Washington following the U.S.-India Defence Framework Agreement of 2005.

The nuclear agreement between the two countries which followed was a strong signal indicating which direction New Delhi was tilting to. The majority of Indias joint military exercises have been conducted with the U.S.

The Indian Navy has acquired the reputation of being the most pro-American wing of the military establishment. Along with the U.S. Navy, it has taken upon itself the role of safeguarding the Malacca Straits. Oil and gas from West Asia bound for Japan and the West go through this narrow body of water.

Defence Minister A.K.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments downgrading of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) also upset Moscow. Other observer countries such as Iran and Pakistan were represented at the highest levels in the last couple of years.

For the past two years, India has been represented by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora. The SCO is seen by many in Asia as a counterweight to NATO expansionism in the region. New Delhis spurning of a separate nuclear deal offered by Moscow during the recent visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Russia has also not helped matters.

The UPA governments emphasis on building strong ties with the U.S. has led to stagnation with other important countries as well. It is not only Russia that has been alarmed at some of the Indian governments recent foreign policy decisions.

Beijing views the looming strategic alliance between New Delhi and Washington as part of the U.S. containment policy in respect to China. Shiv Shankar Menon had to make a visit to Teheran in the third week of December to explain New Delhis policies for the region.

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