From Quasi-Alliance to Pragmatic Cooperation:The Causes and Direction of India-Russia Relations'Adjustment
During the Cold War,India maintained a relatively close strategic cooperation with the Soviet Union in a special partnership at the quasi-alliance level.After the Cold War,India established a"special and privileged strategic partnership"with Russia.After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict,India refused to follow the West in isolating and sanctioning Russia and intensified cooperation with Russia in the energy sector.It must be noted,however,that discord and instability have also emerged in India-Russia relations,which have been downgraded from a quasi-alliance to a pragmatic cooperation of great powers based on common interests.For example,the two countries have serious differences over the Indo-Pacific Strategy,with India adopting a policy of supporting and promoting the Strategy and Russia firmly opposing it.In addition,India's initiative in India-Russia relations has also increased.This realignment of India-Russia relations is the result of a combination of factors.Fundamentally,the erosion of common interests and the basis for cooperation is at the core of the changes in their relations.Economically,Russia's importance to India has shown a precipitous decline;in terms of security,Russian-made weapons still have a market in India but face fierce competition from U.S.and European weapons;and geopolitically,the drastic change in the geostructure has posed a serious impact on India-Russia cooperation.In addition,the Russia-Ukraine conflict is an important trigger for the realignment of India-Russia relations.The geopolitical and security implications of the realignment of India-Russia relations have exacerbated the complexity and imbalance of the power game between major countries and the fragility of regional security in South Asia.A prospective forecast of the dynamics of the realignment of India-Russia relations requires to take into account various factors,in particular,the evolution of India's foreign policy of"multi-alignment",the duration of India's large-scale purchases of Russian oil at a discounted price,and so forth.
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