India, Russia: Friends in arms


	April 13, 2002	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

India, Russia: Friends in arms
By Sergei Blagov

MOSCOW - As Moscow goes ahead with its arms exports game in Asia, it is understood that it remains one of the few viable instruments available at the Kremlin's disposal. Notably, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes traveled to Russia this week, presumably mulling new multimillion-dollar arms deals.

Russia and India have "either absolutely identical or close positions" on security issues, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov stated on meeting Fernandes. In response, Fernandes said that President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to India, due later this year, was destined to give bilateral ties yet another boost. India and Russia "are ready to contribute to the process of stabilization" around Afghanistan and in Central Asia, Fernandes was quoted as saying by the Russian Information Agency (RIA).

Both Ivanov and Fernandes reportedly voiced satisfaction over "bilateral military-technical cooperation", a Russian buzzword for the arms trade.

According to RIA, India's wish list includes two Russian-build nuclear submarines and Tupolev-22 long-range bombers. These procurements would enable India's navy and naval aviation to employ nuclear weapons, RIA commented on Tuesday.

Coincidentally or not, on Friday, the Severodvinsk plant in northern Russia started final tests on India's Sinduratna, an upgraded submarine of the "Varshvyanka" type. These vessels, known as "project 877ECM" in Russia or Kilo-class according to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) classification, each cost about US$800 million, have exceptionally low levels of noise and are capable of speeds of more than 30 knots.

Sinduratna was built in Nizhny Novgorod back in 1988, while its modernization in Severodvinsk started in 2000. Its armaments include the "Club-S" missile complex with a 200-kilometer range. The upgrade featured new navigation and communication systems. Sinduratna is to be delivered to India within the next three to four months, according to RIA. Since 1986, India has procured a total of 10 submarines of the "Varshvyanka" type, of which three have been subsequently upgraded.

Fernandes also discussed a would-be $700 million deal to upgrade Russia's 44,000-tonne Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy.

In a sign that the Kremlin prioritizes arms exports, after the talks between Ivanov and Fernandes, Putin convened a special closed meeting at the Kremlin to discuss the state of "military-technical cooperation" with foreign countries in 2001 and plans for 2002.

Although Fernandes presumably traveled to Moscow amid concerns that the reported increase in defense spending by China could lead to an arms race in Asia, both India and China top the list of Russia's arms importers. Russia's annual military sales to the two Asian giants are believed to amount to some 80 percent of Moscow's overall arms exports, which reached $3.7 billion in 2000 and $4.5 billion in 2001.

Second only to China in importing Russian military products, India has equipped nearly two-thirds of its armed forces with Russian hardware. New Delhi procured Russian arms worth $3.5 billion between 1990 and 1996. Russia has agreed to sell a range of weapons systems to India in a series of deals, which could earn Russia as much as $4 billion over the next three years. As tensions between India and Pakistan are running high, New Delhi seeks new weapons that Russia is keen to supply.

In late 2000, Russia clinched a $3.3 billion deal granting India a license to produce 140 Su-30MKIs jet fighters. In early 2001, India signed a $800 million deal to build 124 T-90C battle tanks in Russia as well as assemble 186 more units in India. So far, 40 tanks have been delivered while 40 more are to be delivered by the end of April by Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil.

St Petersburg's Baltiisky shipyard is now working on a $1 billion contract to deliver three Krivak-class frigates by 2003. The Nizhny Novgorod-based Sokol plant has been retained to upgrade India's aging fleet of MiG-21s. India's wish list also includes the purchase of the S-300V air defense complex and the lease of four Tu-22M3 backfire bombers and two Amur-class submarines. Moreover, according to Vladimir Simonov, head of Russia's Communications Systems Agency, Moscow has offered India a number of air defense systems, notably the Buk-M1, Tor-M1, Zoo-1 and Tunguska-M1.

On the other hand, Fernandes' reassuring statement that India was interested in stabilization in Central Asia presumably came as sweet music for Moscow, notably following a series of recent snubs from the Central Asian states.

Russian officials have been keen to find common grounds with Asian giants, notably India. Cooperation between Russia and India is on the rise, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told journalists in Moscow on Wednesday. In addition, according to Valery Nikolayenko, a Russian general and head of the Collective Security Treaty of the Commonwealth of Independent States, also known under its Russian acronym DKB, the DKB viewed itself as an "integral part of the European and Asian security" system. He claimed that India's and China's policies were more or less in line with the DKB's course of action.

The DKB is open for any nation wishing to join, Russia's security council secretary Vladimir Rushailo told journalists in Almaty on Thursday after meeting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Rushailo attended a session of the DKB's Committee of Security Councils' Secretaries in Almaty on Thursday and Friday. The US military presence in Central Asia will not be long-term, Rushailo was quoted as saying by RIA.

Six post-Soviet nations now make up the DKB. The presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus and Armenia met in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in October 2000 to sign an agreement on a status of the collective security military forces - to be assembled in case of need by member states. The forces are to be used to combat outside aggression, to carry out "anti-terrorist" operations or to be involved in military maneuvers.

However, some Central Asian leaders have recently opted to question the DKB's relevance, implicitly snubbing Moscow. Notably, on April 4, Uzbek President Islam Karimov told journalists that "the US military, and not the DKB, played a decisive role in safeguarding Southern Uzbek borders". The US military in Kyrgyzstan served as an "extra shield" to protect the country against international terrorism, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev told journalists in Bishkek this month.

Hence it hardly came as a coincidence that the DKB moved to hold maneuvers of its collective security military forces in Kyrgyzstan from Saturday through Monday under supervision of Russian General Sergei Chernomordin. RIA also quoted an opinion poll in Bishkek allegedly indicating that some 62 percent of Kyrgyz people did not like the Western military presence in the landlocked post-Soviet state.

Therefore, Moscow seemingly still relies on arms exports to sustain its traditional alliances in Asia, notably in India. Yet it remains to be seen whether India's muted support could help safeguard Russian interests in Central Asia.

((c)2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact ads@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)