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The Soviet Union used to be very important in India's foreign policy and even when its (Soviet Union's) head was disintegrated, the importance of Russia in India's eyes remained almost the same.
During the Cold War, when the world was divided between the Soviet Union and the United States, India was ideologically close to the Soviet Union, despite its neutrality.
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Meanwhile, in 1971, there was a 13-day war between India and Pakistan. East Pakistan became Bangladesh after the crisis created by the human tragedy in East Pakistan. Large numbers of migrants were coming to India from East Pakistan and there was no hope of a political settlement between East and West Pakistan.
At that time the Soviet Union was the only country that was listening to India. In August 1971, the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi signed the India-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship,
and Cooperation.
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Under the agreement, the Soviet Union assured India that it would provide military and diplomatic assistance to India in the event of war.
Moscow has been a reliable ally of India, on the other hand, in the same period, the United States has been giving importance to Pakistan over India.
When the crisis arose in East Pakistan, India ignored the United States.
Analysts say then-US President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger saw Pakistan as a key partner in boosting ties with China.
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But the friendship between India and Russia did not begin in 1971, but even under Nehru, the Soviet Union was helping India on many fronts.
In recent days, relations between Russia and India have once again become so heated that, according to experts, the Modi government has ignored the United States.
On December 6 this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India. The visit was hailed by observers of Putin's foreign policy.
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Priority to India
Dmitry Terenin is the director of the Carnegie Moscow think tank.
Dmitry wrote in the Moscow Times on December 6 about Putin's visit to India that "Putin has made only two foreign trips this year. One from India, and the other from Geneva, where he met with US President Joe Biden.
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Putin did not attend the G20 and COP 26 meetings and postponed his visit to China because of the code, but he decided to go to India.
"This shows that Putin wants to move beyond the general warmth in relations between Russia and India."
Dmitry wrote that personal relations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin are also very good. India has recently bought the S400 missile system from Russia, ignoring US pressure.
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India says it makes its decisions according to its own needs. The United States, meanwhile, has objected to an agreement with Russia on the S400 missile system. US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who visited India in October, called the deal "dangerous."
In 2017, a law was passed imposing sanctions on US opponents to punish certain countries for Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
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The law bans any country that buys military equipment from Russia, but in buying a missile system, India apparently ignored it and signed the S400 deal.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised India's stance, saying "India has decided to become an independent nation."
Modi is one of the four foreign leaders in the world to have been awarded the highest civilian honor, St. Andrew's, by Russia.
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Distrust of the United States
Rajan Kumar, a professor at the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, when asked if India was ignoring the United States more than Russia, said: Has happened The way the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan and kept India in the dark all this time has put all Indian investment in Afghanistan at stake.
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Rajan Kumar says the United States has a defense pact with Britain and Australia. Under this, there is talk of providing nuclear submarines to Australia. The agreement is being seen as an attempt to block China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. But as a result, Australia canceled its agreement with France. In response, France slammed the United States, saying it had stabbed it in the back. In such a situation, the message went that if the United States can do this with the NATO country France, then what is India.
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Rajan Kumar believes that India cannot build relations with the United States at the expense of Russia.
"India is pursuing a policy of engagement with many countries and I think this is a realistic strategy. The foreign policy of alliance-building will not work in today's world but only alliances formed to solve specific problems will work. If India is a member of BRICS and SCO, then it is also a member of Quad and there is nothing wrong with that. India does not control its foreign policy.
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India's Influence in Central Asia
Rajan Kumar says India can only reach Central Asia through Russia.
"Iran is also an important country for India. If Pakistan is to be bypassed and reach Central Asia via Chah-e-Bihar, then only Iran will be useful. But despite the dispute with the United States, Iran and India will not be able to cooperate.
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"Russia is necessary for that," he said. If Russia decides not to allow India to gain a foothold in Central Asia, it can do so. But Russia is not only meeting India's military needs at the moment but is also providing assistance to India in international forums. Russia is a tried and tested country for India compared to the United States.
The 18th meeting of the Russia-India-China Forum (RIC) was held on November 25 last month. The foreign ministers of the three countries attended the meeting in which India expressed support for the Winter Olympics in Beijing. China will host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in March 2022.
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The United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia have diplomatically boycotted the Winter Olympics in China. These four countries will not send any delegations to the Winter Olympics. India is the only country in the Quad Alliance supporting China in the Winter Olympics. It is said that India provided this support to China because of Russia.
The English newspaper Global Times, a spokesman for the Chinese Communist Party, wrote in an article on November 28 in support of India's support: Supported the organization. It is also expanding ties with BRICS member states. It is clear that India wants to keep its foreign policy liberal and does not want to confine itself to any camp.
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