Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin visit to India for the annual bilateral and BRICS Summit, India has conveyed to Moscow its anguish over the first-ever military exercise between Russia and Pakistan that took place around the time India conducted surgical strikes on Pakistan-based terror camps. Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran cautioned Russia that its current policy to engage with Pakistan, the nation that sponsors and harbours terror groups against India, is a wrong foreign policy approach that can bring problems in future.
“We have conveyed our views to the Russian side that military cooperation with Pakistan, which is a state that sponsors and practices terrorism, as a matter of state policy is a wrong approach. It will only create further problems,” said Saran in an interview to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Putin will visit Goa from October 14 to 17 when, besides attending BRICS Summit, he would also hold the 17th India-Russia Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 15. They are expected to review the entire gamut of India-Russia bilateral relationship and review the progress made since the last summit held in Moscow in December 2015.
“There are some burning issues before the world today which the BRICS countries will certainly address. This includes the question of terrorism and the threat of terrorism faced by all the countries in the BRICS group. So this will be a major item of discussion during the summit apart from the regional conflicts and the global situation,” said Saran.
Though India and Russia have a robust defence partnership, the talks this year take place in the backdrop of Russia conducting its first ever military exercise - Druzhba 2016 -- with Pakistan at a time when India conducted surgical strikes along the loC.
Initial news reports from Russia claimed Druzhba-2016 would be held at the Pakistan Army’s High Altitude School at Rattu in Gilgit-Baltistan in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. But after India raised eyebrows over both timing and venue of the exercise, Russia clarified that the exercise was held at the Cherat training ground in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan.
Russia further clarified that it holds similar military drills with other countries of the region as well, and citied Russian-Indian joint anti-terror exercise -- Indra-2016 - that took place in Russia simultaneously. However, in a balancing act, Russia issued two strong statements against Pakistan - one after the Uri attack, and another after surgical strikes - condemning Pak and asking it to take action on terror groups in its territory.
India and Russia enjoy a special relationship particularly in the Defence and security arena and bilateral cooperation between the two has increased in all the spheres over the years. India’s security relationship with Russia has been so unique that Indian officials say that if there is a security situation in India, the first call will be made to Russia.
The Indian envoy said the two countries share a special and privileged strategic partnership, which can be strengthened further and that New Delhi was satisfied with the level of strategic and privileged partnership with Russia. “We see no change in this. On the contrary, this has only strengthened in all areas, including in the field of military-technical cooperation. This partnership is an anchor of peace and stability in the region and the world,” Saran added.
Sources in New Delhi said the Putin and Modi share a special bonding which may result in the two sides stepping up collaborations in new areas. “Over the years it was space, nuclear and defence. But in the last few years, we have expanded this cooperation in various segments particularly in energy sector,” said sources. Diamond, pharmaceuticals, food processing are the new area where the India Russia have increased business.