Although India became free of the British yoke on 15 August 1947, it declared itself a Democratic Republic on 26 January 1950. Ever since the occasion is marked with ceremonial pomp and display of India’s military might and the cultural diversity.
Last year, India invited the Saudi King to be the Chief Guest on the occasion of the Republic Day. Tomorrow the Russian President Vladimir Putin would grace the function in New Delhi.
Writes Rediffnews: “With the focus of public attention on the foreign policy front over the last year or so having been on India’s relations with the United States, it is easy to miss the significance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit this week.
“Yet, it is anything but a routine one.
“For the first time ever, a Russian head of State has been invited as chief guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations, the most prestigious and visible event on India’s diplomatic calendar, one whose significance goes beyond State-to-State diplomacy.
“The public exposure that the chief guest and the country he represents get is an integral part of the importance and significance of the visit. It sends a powerful message not only to the country being honoured and to the rest of the world, but, equally importantly, to the people of India…
“Russia and India have changed enormously over the last 15 years since the break-up of the Soviet Union. After going through a difficult period in the early 1990s, both India and Russia have acquired a new self-confidence arising out of their rapid economic growth, large foreign exchange reserves, their respective strengths — among others, of Russia as an ‘energy superpower’ and India as a ‘knowledge superpower’ — and their sense of destiny.
“There is a shared interest in weakening US global hegemony and in creating a multipolar world. There is reciprocal support and understanding for each other’s interests and policies in their respective strategic neighbourhoods — South Asia in the case of India, and the former Soviet Union in the case of Russia…
“There is a complementarity of interests in important fields of cooperation such as oil and gas, defence, nuclear, space, science and technology — all areas that constitute Russia’s core strength and globally competitiveness and, reciprocally, areas where India needs foreign assistance and collaboration.”
The Times of India takes note of the major defense ties between the two countries. “From the joint development of a new ‘hypersonic’ BrahMos cruise missile to an almost-clinched agreement for the fifth-generation stealth fighter, India and Russia are now poised to take their already robust defence relationship to an altogether new level.
“The exact contours of the agreement for the G-5 fighter project, which may require India to invest around Rs 5,000 crore, and the specifications for the hypersonic BrahMos, which will fly over five times the speed of sound, will be thrashed out in the near future.
“But the two countries went ahead on Wednesday and signed a protocol for the joint development of the 100-seater multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) and a contract for the licensed production of RD-33 engines for MiG-29s at Nasik in India.
“Moreover, India also decided to procure 347 more T-90S main-battle tanks, 40 more Sukhoi-30MKI ‘air dominance’fighters and 80 more Mi-17 medium-lift utility and assault helicopters from Russia.
“That’s not all. During the sixth meeting of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation on Wednesday, chaired by defence minister A K Antony and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov, Moscow also made a strong pitch for its MiG-35 to bag the IAF’s $6.5 billion contract to buy 126 multi-role combat aircraft.
“Well, the Russians will have to face stiff competition in this contract from the Americans (F-16 and F/A-18), French (Rafale), Swedes (JAS-39 Gripen) and the European Consortium, which makes Typhoon.
“But on other fronts, it’s good news for Russia, desperate to maintain its numero uno status among defence suppliers to India, which in turn is looking to spend over $ 30 billion in the 11th Plan (2007-2012).”
The Hindustan Times comments editorially: “In international affairs, Putin has begun to re-establish the strong and independent role for Russia, once played by the Soviet Union, without its revolutionary or imperial pretensions. He has accepted American and European influence over the Baltic States, but sought to keep traditional Slavic States like Ukraine and Belarus under a close embrace. Till now, he has acquiesced with the US dominance in West Asia and gone along with American activities in Central Asia. Even in the case of Iran, he has chosen to avoid direct confrontation with the US. However, America’s self-inflicted infirmities in these regions have created a vacuum that Kremlin could once again seek to fill.
“Russia’s resurgence under a powerful leader is good news for New Delhi. The Soviet collapse, formalised in 1991, took with it the scaffolding around India’s strategic architecture. The Soviet Union had been the inspiration for our planned economy, supplier of some 70 per cent of military hardware and an uncomplaining supporter of all our causes, from Kashmir to Bangladesh. Soviet weapons systems, provided at ‘friendship prices’, enabled India to field a robust military force that made us a regional power of sorts.”
The BBC has this to say: “There is a joke in Delhi that the word PUTIN is short for Planes, Uranium, Tanks, Infrastructure and Nuclear power. It just about sums up the enormous goodie bag Russia’s president is offering India…
“Delhi’s ultimate aim is probably to secure what it calls “strategic balance” to avoid becoming too closely tied to either Moscow or Washington.
“That will mean some hard-nosed bargaining. But it is India that is buying, whether it is energy or arms, and so it finds itself in an unaccustomed but increasingly powerful role as a major economic player, with both Moscow and Washington vying for its business.”
As India opts for unabated flirtations all around, the mighty ‘lover’ in the White House has so far not shown any visible signs of distress!!! Is this what ‘true love’ all about!!!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.