The shooting down of a Russian aircraft by Turkish F-16 fighter jets on Nov. 24 raised the specter of a full-fledged Cold War, since the unprovoked attack was undertaken by a NATO member state. Although it may not lead to direct confrontation, the overtures have already begun to show in various sectors. With Russia retaliating to the Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown by publishing satellite images as proof of Turkish smuggling of Isis oil across border from Syria and bombing the oil trucks along the smuggling route while accusing US of the cover-up; in latest development Russia has offered Indian companies a chance to replace Turkey in the Russian market.
Recently Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was on a visit to India to finalize preparations for the annual Russia-India Summit scheduled to be held later this month in Moscow. Speaking to Russian journalists after a series of substantive meetings with Indian officials and leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rogozin called for both sides to work to resolve “old chronic problems” that have remained in limbo for many years.
As reported by Russia and India Report:
“These are issues related to the protection of Russian investments; such as the problem in which AFK Sistema is involved and the second “titanium project”. Today, we discussed these issues, and I saw the Prime Minister of India express his desire to ensure that another determined effort is made to resolve these problems before his visit,” the visiting deputy PM said.
The settlement of these disputes will open the way for new mutual investments, and intensify trade between the two countries. Especially now, given that some European manufacturers have left the Russian market and cooperation with Ankara is collapsing, favourable conditions for Indian companies are being created.
“We believe that these vacated niches can be filled by Indian producers,” said the Russian DPM. “It may seem that we are placing more emphasis on military-technical cooperation issues, but that is no longer the case. Now we need India primarily as a large trade and economic partner.”
Apart from this Mr. Rogozin also offered cooperation in the field of satellite technologies more specifically Missile Technology Control Regime stating that Russian producers are ready to help their Indian colleagues build their own satellite delivery mechanisms to place satellites into the earth’s orbit, meaning missile technologies.
This is not the first time India is caught in this Great Game of imperial powers. As explained in our previous report in the traditional Great Game – the strategic economic and political rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in India at the expense of Afghanistan, Persia and the Central Asian Khanates/Emirates, the British were able to stop Russia at the gates of Afghanistan and engineered the Russian Revolution with other continental powers like Germany so that the Czar’s Royal Rulership that prompted the move southwards towards India could be eliminated temporarily for few decades.
The British also utilized close to two million Indian soldiers as cannon fodder to win their first continental European war now called as the First World War. This war created the seeds for the second continental European war known now as the Second World War, in which again British were able to win the war with another two million Indian soldiers being sacrificed as cannon fodder.
The conclusion of the Second World War and later the fight that started in sharing of resources or spoils of war led to what now we call as the Cold War, masqueraded as idealistic economic ideological struggle for common man popularly known as economic ideology of Capitalism and Communism.
By the time the Soviet was broken and many other buffer nation states were created between India and Russia temporarily denying the land route access to Russians for a few more decades. Russia appeared to have lost the game but they moved with much vigor into the Indian scenario by ever increasing their co-operation in many fields while the west kept on plundering Indian resources to put right the financial meltdown caused by their own economic mismanagement.
Now, with International Monetary Fund making an unprecedented radical decision to dismantle it’s condition that should have blocked Ukraine from receiving further IMF aid and Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening to take Ukraine to court if it did not repay a $3 billion Eurobond while blasting the IMF for softening its lending rules to help “crooks” in Kiev; it would be interesting to observe India’s response to the Russian offer. The Indian Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Moscow later this month for the annual Russia-India Summit.
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