21st annual India- Russia Annual Summit

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 08, Dec 2021

Reference News:-

21st annual India-Russia summit was held recently. It was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Alongside, the inaugural 2+2 ministerial meeting was also held.
• The meeting saw the signing of 28 agreements across sectors from defence to energy to space exploration, science and technology, heavy engineering, to trade and investment.

Key takeaways:

1. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin extended an invitation to PM Modi to visit Russia for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit in 2022.
2. The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the sustained progress in the ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’ between both countries despite the challenges posed by the Covid.
3. The role of connectivity through the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the proposed Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor figured in the discussions.
4. The two leaders looked forward to greater inter-regional cooperation between various regions of Russia, in particular with the Russian Far East, with India’s states.
5. They agreed that both countries share common perspectives and concerns on Afghanistan and appreciated the bilateral roadmap charted out at the NSA level for consultation and cooperation on Afghanistan.

Significance of the meeting:

The completion of 5 decades of the 1971 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation and 2 decades of Declaration on Strategic Partnership is symbolic of the long standing and time-tested India-Russia relations characterized by mutual trust, respect for each other’s core national interests and similarity of positions on various international and regional issues.

The 2+2 dialogue:

It is held between the foreign and defence ministers of two countries and is generally seen to be aimed at creating a mechanism under which the bilateral relationship takes a decisive strategic turn with greater integration of defence, security and intelligence apparatus.

Why is Russia Important for India?

• Even as India is diversifying its defense trade partners, Russia still dominates the Indian defense inventory to the tune of about 70 per cent.
• Russia remains the only partner that is still willing to give India critical technologies, such as a nuclear submarine.
• The emerging Russia-China strategic relationship has important security consequences for India.
• Russia also reaffirmed its “unwavering support” to India for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council.
• Russia expressed its support for India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
• Both countries have mutual benefits in supporting struggle against terrorism, Afghanistan, climate change; organisations like SCO, BRICS, G-20 and ASEAN.