The Forum for Global Studies, New Delhi, and a multidisciplinary global think tank organized a discussion with two special guests, Dr. Kirill A. Likhachev and Mr. Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, on the theme, ‘Will Putin’s New Delhi visit open-up new horizons for the Indo-Russian strategic partnership?’, held on 7th December 2021. The programme started with the welcome speech delivered by FGS Founding President Dr Sandeep Tripathi. He extended a warm welcome to the distinguished guest, Dr Kirill A. Likhachev, Associate Professor at School of International Relations, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia, and Mr. Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Economic Times, New Delhi.
After the warm welcome, the session was taken over by Mr Don Mclain Gill, Director, Research at Forum for Global Studies and Fellow at the International Development and Security Cooperation, Philippines. The discussion vastly highlighted the recent visit of President Putin to New Delhi, India. The discussion was initiated with the thoughts of Mr. Dipanjan who highlighted the improving relations between the two countries. He emphasised President Putin’s visit to India in such extraordinary times put all doubts to rest and emphasis on more positives than negatives. He also spoke about new areas of strategic relations between India and Russia that are steal, petrol-chemicals, railways, and civilian ship buildings.
The discussion then was taken forward by Dr. Kirill who began with focusing on defence sector of both the countries. He noted the military technical cooperation are the backbone of the India-Russia bilateral relations. He talked about various joint ventures underlying the relations of India-Russia and stated that Russia provides a competitive edge in India’s arms market. Furthermore, the discussion focused on strategic autonomy and engagement in India’s foreign relations. Dr. Kirill rightly defined the India-Russia relationship as truly pragmatic one. Dr Kirill in his discussion added that Russia has always refrained from getting involved in India’s other foreign relations such as with China or USA. However, he noted that on the other hand, India is worried about developments in China-Russia relations.
The next section of the discussion was in regard to value in regional cooperation, mainly the Indian Ocean. According to Dr. Kirill, Indian Ocean is a weak point of India-Russia bilateral agenda. There were also remarks on the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, being a matter of great concern for the entire region. Dr. Kirill mentioned the concept of greater Eurasia, thereby establishing strategic accuracy and enhanced cooperation. The last section minutely looked into the topic of energy and economic cooperation in which according to Dr. Kirill, the area is undeveloped between the two countries. In the end, Ms. Simran Walia, Honorary Fellow at Forum for Global Studies, presented her views on the India-Russia relation and thanked Dr. Kirill, and Mr. Dipanjan for their beautiful insights and for gracing FGS with their presence for the discussion.