Dear Editor,
India recently tested BrahMos successfully, which may revive the somewhere lost friendship between India and Russia. Its name is the combination of Brahmaputra river in India and Moskva river in Russia, which is a good sign for the India-Russia friendship.
Russia and India began their friendship when India was a poor country and had to totally depend on Russia for the military, industrial and technological investment. In the past Russia has supported India for entry in Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). India imports nearly 70% of its defence equipment and most of them are from Russia.
But lately the ties between both the countries are not that strong, and Russia has been reluctant in sharing the technology for solid propellants with India for BrahMos.
The imbalance is there because India is deepening its ties with the US in the domain of military hardware. The announcement by Russia to give away the S-400 helicopters to Pakistan was ample evidence of the shift. As far as US hand for friendship with India is concerned it is only because it needs a country in Asia to keep a check on the rising power of the China.
Abhijeet
IIMC, Jammu
