India and Russia have signed over a dozen agreements in fields such as infrastructure, shipping, technology and, most importantly, defence. This all happened at the now
concluded BRICS summit in South Goa, where foreign secretary S Jaishankar stated that India trusts Russia fully and “the assumption is that Russia will never do anything that is
not in our interests.” Assuming something like that is never healthy, considering the last time India needed Russia’s help, in 1962 during the war with China, Russia was warned not to help India and also to not impose economic sanctions on China by America. Now,
they condemn the Uri attack but hold joint military exercises in Pakistan, claiming that it was being done with an aim to fortify
the country against Islamic State and other terror groups.
Point number four of the Goa Declaration read thus: Secure
our societies. In the world we inhabit today, security and counter-
terrorism cooperation are essential. Terrorism casts a long
shadow on our development and
economic prosperity.
Terrorism rears its ugly head regularly
in India and its common
knowledge that there is a lot of
danger to human life in India that
germinates across the LoC in Pakistan.
India has been fighting to
get Pakistan told off by the UN, but
while there have been a few statements
made, particularly by America, nothing has been set
in stone. In fact, India’s plans to have the mastermind behind
the Pathankot attack, Masood Azhar, put on the global terrorist
list by the UN has been thwarted by China. Russia, on the
other hand, openly deals with India and Pakistan alike, but
there’s still faith that the country will not harm India’s interests.
Economics seems to rule the roost these days and this might
leave India out in the cold. Russia will promise to maintain
trade relations with India. China will do the same, yet China
remains the biggest obstacle to India’s chances of becoming
a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, on the ground that
it has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT). China has now promised to hold talks on the issue, but
what will come of it is anyone’s guess. They still refuse to point
an accusing finger at Pakistan, when it comes to breeding terrorists.
Russia’s stand on terrorism is the same as India’s, but they
cannot launch an initiative to action this stand on account of
their poor economy. The relationship between China, Russia
and Pakistan is of diplomatic respect and strong business interests,
but there needs to be a common and coherent stand on
state sponsored terror.
