Indo- Russia Defence Cooperation (After 2004)

This article provides a detailed look at the India-Russia defence cooperation, which continues to remain strong from the Prime Minister Nehru to present day. Cooperation in defence has been an important part of the two countries relationship. India gets most of its defence equipment from Russia or the Soviet Union. They have been cooperating on defence since 1962, and it is based on trust and faithfulness. The primary aim of this study is to examine India's defence policy and its influence on the India–Russia relationship and collaboration. The Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation, which was signed in August 1971, established the stage for close strategic ties. In 1993, it was renewed, and in 1994, the Military Technical Cooperation Agreement was signed, which made defence cooperation even more powerful. During critical times, like the 1971 Indo-Pak War and the Kargil conflict, Russian weapons have helped them. Now presently, India's defence purchases from Russia have continuously decreased due to several of reasons such as late deliveries, rising prices, poor technical assistance, and incomplete technology transfer. Russia is still a good partner, but India is looking for alternative means to buy arms from different countries so that it remains strategically balanced and independent in the future. It’s always remembered that no country shares its most important technology to other nations. And there are no permanent friends or rivals in world politics only permanent interests. In the Soviet Times, arms sales were done as a favour, with "friendship prices." Now, they take place as business. A report from the Indian Parliament in 2001 instructed the country to look for proposals from all over the world for defence contracts. Despite this, Russia is India's most significant defence partner.