Russia Snubs India; Cancels Navy, Army War Games

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Russia Snubs India; Cancels Navy, Army War Games

By Times of India on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
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Russia has snubbed India in the recent months by cancelling two important bilateral war games, usually held under a well-established arrangement, a senior official said on Monday. The move has raised eyebrows in the Indian defence establishment.

The Russians have called off the Indra series of navy and army war games in the recent weeks, baffling the Indian defence ministry, the official said.

Russia had late last month called off the Indra series of exercises with the Indian Navy, despite the latter's warships -- including guided missile destroyers INS Delhi, INS Ranvir and INS Ranvijay -- reaching Vladivostok, an eastern Russian port town on the Pacific Ocean.

The reason cited by Russians for the sudden decision to do away with the naval war game was the non-availability of its warships due to their expected deployment in aid of Japan after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the official said here.

But what came as a shocker for the Indians was that the Russian warships later sailed out for an exercise of their own, instead of the cited deployment in aid of Japan.

The Indian ships returned to Visakhapatnam last week without the valuable experience that would have been gained if the exercise had taken place. Indian Navy personnel instead had to contend with a face-saver of a tabletop simulation during their stay in Vladivostok, the official said. "The reasons given by the Russian navy are absurd," the official added.

But the latest insult to injury was the calling off of an army exercise under the Indra series that was to be held in Russia in June. Moscow conveyed to New Delhi last week that it would not be able to host the exercise as the intimation for the war game was sent very recently without much time for preparation, the official said.

Since 2003, the two countries have conducted five exercises between their armies and navies under the Indra series. The latest bilateral army exercise was held in Uttarakhand last October.

The Russian moves come in the wake of India choosing two European fighter jets as the top contenders for a $10.4 billion fighter jet contract. In the process, not only Russian but also American and Swedish planes were knocked out of the competition.

After being fed-up for long with delays and non-availability of spares for its Soviet-era MiG-series fighter jets, military transports, radars and missile systems, India issued several open global tenders worth several millions of dollars for the same.

The two sides also fenced over time and cost overruns in the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier refit, for which India is now paying $2.34 billion instead of the 2004 price of $1.5 billion, which included 16 MiG-29K carrier-borne fighter jets for $526 million.

Just over six months ago, India had signed agreements with Russia for the joint development of a fifth generation fighter jet of which Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to get about 250 to 300 planes.

In fact, the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, has just returned from Russia after inspecting the progress on the fifth generation jet.

This apart, India and Russia have also inked a pact on developing a medium transport aircraft, of which IAF would get about 45 planes. Through these agreements, India is likely to invest over $10 billion in the two projects.

Read more: Russia Snubs India; Cancels Navy, Army War Games | Defense & Security News at DefenseTalk

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Miffed Russia upsets India
June 05, 2011 4:15:44 AM

PNS/PTI | New Delhi/Moscow

Longstanding defence and strategic relations between India and Russia are under strain with Moscow calling off a scheduled joint naval exercise at short notice in an apparent move to express its displeasure over New Delhi exploring global markets for weapons procurement.

The Russian decision has been slammed by country defence experts and the media while the Indian Navy is also unhappy with the development.

The incident took place late in April when five Indian Navy warships sailed for waters off Vladivostok for the joint naval exercise. The Indian contingent reached Vladivostok and made a ‘port call’ before returning home after Russians abruptly called off the exercise.

This action was sharply criticised by Russian defence experts who said calling off the exercise by Moscow was “simply stupid when several countries are waiting in queue to hold such an exercise with India.”

While the Russians later said the exercise was called off due to the nuclear disaster in Japan following the tsunami, sources here said on Wednesday that several Russian warships were later seen carrying out combat drills in the waters off Vladivostok.

Peeved at the snub, the Indian Navy lodged a protest along with a detailed report to the Indian Defence Ministry, sources said adding the External Affairs Ministry was also apprised of the facts. Incidentally, the schedule for the joint exercise was planned months in advance, they said.

The development has put a question mark over the joint Army exercise ‘Indra’ between the two countries later this year. Focussed on honing anti-terrorism drills in urban and rural scenario, the two sides have held some preliminary meetings to plan the exercise but the dates are yet to be finalised.

It was learnt that Russia, which is the biggest arms supplier to India, is unhappy with New Delhi now exploring the Western world for procuring weapons and critical spare parts. Regular supply of spare parts from Russia has been a problem for the last one decade since the disintegration of Soviet Union and the issue has cropped up many times in talks between top political leadership of both countries.

Moreover, Russia now prefers to pitch for its equipment and the Indian security establishment decided some years back to expand its vendor base to inject more competition and get a better deal for lesser money, sources said.

A top Russian defence expert has said Moscow is not taking defence interaction with India seriously and described the cancellation of a naval drill recently with it as “simply stupid.”

“While other nations wait in the queue to develop military interaction with India, Russia is not behaving seriously. There is no need to be surprised that India is more and more turning towards western partners —- at least more serious and stable,” said Mikhail Barabanov, editor of Moscow Defence Brief monthly, was quoted as saying by financial daily ‘Vedomosti.’

He said: “The Russian decision to cancel war games with the main military-technical partner is simply stupid.”

Barabanov also noted the Russian and Indian Air forces have never carried out joint drills, “probably because the Indian pilots on their Russian built SU-30MKI fighters will easily win over the Russian pilots, with inferior aircraft and less flying experience.”

“It is noteworthy that Indian pilots with SU-30MKI fighters have participated several times in joint drills with USAF and other major Western nations,” he said.

Another major daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes the Russian decision to cancel a war drill at the last moment is believed as Moscow’s “snub” to India for rejection of MiG-35 fighters in the IAF’s tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), in which French Rafale and European Eurofighter Typhoon have been shortlisted.

Tatiana Shaumyan, director of Centre for Indian Studies of the Science Academy’s Oriental Institute, said the “poor planning” of the Russian side may be detrimental to the defence cooperation.

“Russia and India have several decade-long traditions of geopolitical, trade, economic and defence co-operation. The military-technical cooperation had been the one of the main pillars of the Russian-Indian relations. And now in this crucial sphere a ‘snag’ has occurred probably due to bad planning by the Russian side,” Shaumyan said.

She cautioned that it could affect the interaction of armed forces of the two “friendly States.”