Indo-Soviet Friendship Pact and impact
India and Russia are celebrating the 49th
anniversary of the Indo-Soviet Treaty of
Peace, Friendship and Co-operation and 70th anniversary of Indo-
Soviet diplomatic relations. Among all
the agreements concluded between India and several foreign governments, this
agreement has got a very strategic importance
for India. This was signed
between our External Affairs Minister at that time Shri. Swaran
Singh and Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko on 9th August 1971. The indo-Soviet friendship agreement was a
fatal blow and strong warning against the imperialist forces and
countries who were eyeing against our
two countries.
At the backdrop, some historic events were
there. Immediately after the Sino-USSR
mini war in 1969 at Ussuri border,
leaders of India- and USSR were thinking about a friendship agreement against China’s imperialism.
India too had bad experience from China in 1962.
But since there was no urgency, it was placed in the backyard.
Another aspect was the happenings in Pakistan. General elections were
held on 7th December 1970 in
Pakistan. Out of 300 parliamentary constituencies, 162 were in the then East
Pakistan and 138 in West Pakistan. Awami League led by Mujibur Rehman of East Pakistan , got
160 seats and had absolute majority. But President Yahyakhan and Pakistan
Peoples Party led by Z.A.Bhutto of West
Pakistan were against handing over power
to Mujibur Rehman. This led to protests and wide spread violence in East Pakistan and army cracked down.
Ultimately, the uprising of the people turned into a civil war and lakhs of
people from East Pakistan crossed borders and came to India as refugees. The refugee exodus was nearly 10 lakhs. India pleaded other nations
to stop this cruelty and requested their
assistance to send back the refugees. Smt. Gandhi pleaded with President Nixon
of US to deal with the situation in East
Pakistan. President Nixon and the secretary of state Henry Kissinger considered Pakistan a key
go-between in opening relations with China. India had to spend crores of rupees to feed them.
Pakistan thought that India was behind the revolt of Mujibur Rehman. Pakistan army provoked India by opening
firings in western borders. USSR also
supported India and warned Pakistan
against war. Meanwhile Mujib was arrested in March 1971
and Major Ziaur Rehman declared independence of Bangladesh on 29th
March 1971. USSR sympathized with East Pakistanis . US and China were
supporting Pakistan. In the above background
, the leaders of both India and USSR
decided to finalise the pact. By
November, Indo-Pak war seemed inevitable . India waited
for Himalayan passes to close by snow to desist Chinese aggression. On 3 Dec. 1971, Pakistan Airm Force launched
air strikes at 11 airfields in the western sector. The war lasted only for 13
days, till 16th Dec. 1971 when the entire Pakistani army stationed in East Pakistan surrendered before the Indian Army.
The Friendship
treaty was initially for a period of 20 years and it was extendable. Actually, this was not a military pact.
There was no commitment to provide for base in either countries. Only 12 articles were there in the
Treaty. In the Treaty, both the
countires reaffirmed their determination to abide by the purposes and
prindiples of the UN Charter. The pact
upheld the policy of non-alignment of India.It read as follows-: “ The USSR
respects India’s policy of non-alignment and reaffirms that this policy
constitutes an important factor in the maintenance of universal peace and
international security and in the lessening of tensions in the worlds” and in either countries. [Art.IV]. Further, Art. VIII says ‘ ‘ Countries
under take to abstain from any aggression
against the other Party and to prevent the use of its territory for the
commission of any act which might inflict military damage on the other contracting party”. The
most important proviso was the Art.IX which read “ Each contracting party
undertakes to abstain from providing any assistance to any third party that engages in armed
conflict with the other party. In the
event of either party being subjected to attacks or a threat thereof, the High
Contracting parties shall immediately enter into mutual consultation in order
to remove such threat and to take appropriate effective measures to ensure
peace and the security of their countries.”
We are in
2020, much water flowed out from Yamuna
and Volga. 1971 looms large in the
India-Russia relationship today. Russia
was a reliable partner for India, when no one else was. Both the countries have
been co-operating in various sectors. Bi-lateral trade was $ 7.83 billion in 2015, it was $ 8.3 billion
in 2018-19 and INR 12.20 billion in 2020
May. The target is to have $ 30 billion bi-lateral trade by 2025. Our co-operation is extended to different
sectors like defence, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism, and space. IOC bought stakes in Russian companies and
oil fields worth $5.5 billion and Rosneft has acquired Indias ESSAR in a deal worth $13
billion.
India is the second
largest market for the Russian defence
industry. The defence facet of of the relationship is one of the strongest
pillars of Indo-Russia relations and has withstood the test of time. It has
developed to the stage of technology sharing. Nearly 60 % of Indian Military’s hardware import comes from Russia. Our Brahmos cruise missile is a JV with
Russia. 5 th generation fighter jet programme,Sukhoi Su-MK programme,(to be
built by HAL] , KA 226 T twin-engine utility helicopters, frigates etc. are
being manufactured in India with Russian co-operation. Top most is an agreement [Oct.2018] for
purchase of 5 S 400 missile defence
system in India with Russian
co-operation @ $5.43 billion. In
addition to this Rosatum is building 6 units of nuclear reactors
at the Kudankulam site in Tamil Nadu.
Our cultural relations are also deep rooted.
Russian novelists like Leo Tolstoy,
Alexander Pushkin, Maxim Gorky, Fyodor Dostoevsky are very familiar in India . Likewise,
Hindi films, yoga etc.are also very polula
in Russia.
Russia is a good friend of India and always stood with us, whether it be
Kashmir issue, NSG or UNSC membership for us.
Russia supports us in all international fora. Of late, very recently, after 15 th June
incident at Ladakh between India and China , Russia organized a trilateral
meeting among the foreign ministers on
23 june bringing together India and China face to face. I
conclude my this with a quote from the speech of former
President Pranab kumar Mukherjee .” India- Russia relationship is one of deep
friendship and mutual confidence that would not be affected by transient
political trends. Russia has been a pillar of strength at
difficult moments in India’s history.
India will always reciprocate this support. Russia is and will remain our partner and a key
partner for our energy security, both on nuclear energy and hydrocarbons.”
P.S.Sreekumar
Registrar, Public Policy Research Institute,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
9495577700
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