“Indians need our technology, we need a reliable partner”
The Ministers of Defense of Russia and India & mdash; Sergei Shoigu and Rajnath Singh met in New Delhi on December 6. According to the Indian minister, “a number of agreements, treaties and protocols on small arms and military cooperation have been signed on Twitter”. He also noted that “India appreciates Russia's strong support.”
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
About why India is interested in developing military-technical cooperation with Russia and why it is an important partner for Russia like India, MK. said Russian military analyst, director of the Moscow Center for Strategy and Technology Analysis, a member of the public council of the Russian Ministry of Defense Ruslan Pukhov.
& mdash; The Indians themselves have colossal ambitions, the expert believes. & ndash; & nbsp; They are absolutely sure that India & ndash; the second most important country in the world after the USA. They even have self-determination, which translates as follows: “ the largest democracy in the world and the second most important country after the United States. & # 39; & # 39; India pursues a relatively aggressive foreign policy, which must be supported by strong forces. Given that their armed forces are large and their own defense-industrial complex, to put it mildly, average, they need a range of technologies that, until recently, only our country could provide. & Nbsp; In particular, nuclear-powered submarines, sophisticated missile technology that has given India a large number of supersonic heavy missiles “ BrahMos & # 39; & # 39; (“ Brahmaputra-Moscow & # 39; & # 39;). We help India build their own air defense systems, now they buy anti-aircraft missile systems from us & nbsp; S-400.
& mdash; We need it because & nbsp; India & ndash; growing countries, large, actively participating in various kinds of international organizations, forums, conferences. It is certainly better for us to have India as a friend than as an enemy. And then & nbsp; Indians pay decent money. Although it is true that dealing with them is always very difficult. India & ndash; our old Soviet-era arms market. Unlike China, which was opened only in 1989. We have long-standing historical ties with India and, of course, we pretend to keep this market behind. True, a number of other players are now pushing us hard. Especially French military companies. Americans and Israelis have become very active. So we are facing tough competition in this market, practically a struggle, which is why, from this point of view, the forthcoming visit of the Russian President to India, as well as the meetings of the military ministers, is very important & nbsp; for us.