In his realm, Modi perceives it as the best modicum suited to India and its global interest. And the most significant victim of this policy has been Indo-Russian friendship. A cordial relationship with India that began in the 1950s represented the most successful of the Soviet attempts to foster closer relations with Third World countries. The intensity of the relationship could be gauged from the simple instance of Russia’s role during Bangladesh liberation war in 1971

India has found Russia to have utility on the global stage as well. In the United Nations Security Council, Moscow has exercised its veto for India’s benefit in the past. It has also endorsed a permanent seat for India on the council and supported Indian membership in organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Like India, Russia is a member of the BRICS grouping and in both the SCO and BRICS, Moscow could potentially help offset some of Beijing’s influence.

Cooperation with Russia is one of the cornerstones of Indian international policy and secures our interests in international political sphere as well in economic development. Historical relations with Russia have been helpful in all the turbulent times we witnessed after India became independent in 1947. Moscow’s support both in economy and defence fields has always been crucial for achieving strategic goals on the path of making our country one of the world leaders. While negotiations with other countries on nuclear energy cooperation are still going on, the second nuclear power plant built with Russia’s help has been completed recently.

Relations between India and Russia were up-graded from 'strategic partnership' to 'special and privileged strategic partnership' in 2010. Six years after this up-gradation and two years after the assumption of power by Prime Minister Modi, it would be appropriate to find out whether the potential of the bilateral partnership has been realized. While Indo-Russian relations appear to be cooling, the USA and Israel have dramatically increased weapons sales to India.

With Russia under Putin gaining ground, America has become scared of losing its hegemony. A “resurgent' Russia is certainly a major threat to the United States. Russian ruling class cannot be expected to forget the humiliation that was inflicted on their country by the western powers. It is an open secret that a strong bilateral relation between India and Russia would pose a serious challenge to American expansion design in the South and South East Asia. With USA already confronting the Chinese pressure in the region, allowing Russia to consolidate its position would be like committing hara-kiri.

This realization has made the USA and NATO desperate and Obama administration is out to grab any opportunity to isolate Russia. NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called upon the NATO countries to stay agile and ready to fight in the face of an aggressive Russia and other emerging challenges. Yet another NATO leader Scaparrotti said NATO is facing a 'resurgent Russia” striving to project itself as a world power. According to these leaders NATO has entered a 'new era of uncertainty,' with serious and enduring challenges on its eastern and southern flanks.

American move dragging India closer is a part of this design. Though the former prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh nursed a soft feeling for the USA, he was not inclined to push India into the lap of America. But the present Prime Minister has been too eager to identify India with the aspirations of the US policy makers.. The frequency and comfort level in meetings between Modi and Obama makes explicit the nature and character of the relations. India signing the three foundational defence Agreements with USA; Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for Geo-spatial Cooperation notwithstanding internal opposition is the candid proof of this.

This development is the manifestation of India virtually entering into a military alliance with USA. Undoubtedly this will lead to serious misgivings among Russian leadership about long term possibilities of the bilateral defence ties. Indian Prime Minister is desperate to seek so called high tech technology from the US companies which the US will never oblige.

America’s embrace is purely a restraint strategy. Since India is growing as a major power in the global arena, USA intends to keep it on its right side and use it for future gains. India and the Soviet Union (USSR) enjoyed a strong strategic, military, economic and diplomatic relationship. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia inherited the close relationship with India, even as India improved its relations with the West. The Indo-Russian strategic partnership has been built on five major components: politics, defence, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism co-operation and space.

The US trying to yank India in its pursuit to contain resurging Russia is absolutely against our interests. By obliging USA, it is sure India is virtually pushing its strategic historical ally towards China at the cost of our own vital interests. . Till now Moscow has been a guarantor of India’s interests in competition with Beijing and that should not be compromised by Modi government.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has been most objective when he said “India’s relations with Russia stand on firm ground. Russia is, and will continue to be, a dependable partner of India in defence matters and energy security, despite the relationship with other countries developed by Russia or developed by India.” Modi government has to see that India does not create any problem to the seven decade old friendship to court a new power whose reliability as India’s good friend has always been in suspect. (IPA Service)