From a military viewpoint it is strategically imperative for India to diversify the sourcing of imported weapon systems and therefore vital to progressively reduce dependency on Russia without adversely affecting the operational preparedness of our armed forces.
There are compulsions on both sides, Indian and Russian to continue the strategic relationship, but in a changed environment, the contours of the relations must also harmonise with India’s national interests. While India has expressed many times over, her gratitude for Russian arms and equipment and Russia’s support for the Indian cause in Kashmir and now India’s quest for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Russia has been indicating its displeasure over India’s improving relations with the USA. India’s relations with other countries and events like the nuclear dialogue with the USA are matters sovereign to India and cannot brook interference from any third country. And while Russia has been the predominant supplier of arms to India, this level of dependency is not in India’s national interest. The steps in progress to diversify our weapon sources, are steps in the right direction and can be considered to be, one can state with the luxury of hindsight available to us now, the rectification of a six decade old strategic defect. This strategic defect has also been one of the causes for our DRDO’s less than satisfactory performance till now. It can only be hoped that the Rs 15,0000 crores that the DRDO has asked for over 10 years, at the rate of Rs 15,000 crore per year starting 2010, will put India on a track to achieve substantial self-reliance in our military requirements. Joint ventures with Russia ought to give impetus in our efforts towards self-reliance. Technology transfers have to be a mandatory provision for any future defence deal.
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