India-Russia Relations
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For the Indian Armed Forces, the Era of Moscow-Supplied Platforms and Assets Is Ending
Russia’s once gargantuan military industry almost single-handedly armed India’s military since the 1960s, especially its aerial requirements.
m.thewire.in
@Rajput Lion
As India becomes more self-reliant, their reliance on imports will naturally decrease. In fact, we can't claim to be a genuine military superpower as long we're dependent on other countries for our defence. So, I actually like this newsFor the Indian Armed Forces, the Era of Moscow-Supplied Platforms and Assets Is Ending
Russia’s once gargantuan military industry almost single-handedly armed India’s military since the 1960s, especially its aerial requirements.
@Rajput Lion
Nations don't have friends but interests. All these aforementioned nations are beneficial to the Russian state.
However, India-Russia relationship is a time-tested all-weather partnership which shall strengthen further.
Modi to seek early discharge of Indians from Russian army in Moscow talks
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The early discharge sought by India of its nationals who were "misled" into serving in the Russian army is expected to be discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow next week, his foreign secretary said on Friday. Several cases of Indians who were lured...
India’s Crude Oil Imports from Russia Surge 1000%
By Mike Schuler
August 7, 2024
Photo: Shutterstock/Montenegro.
India now sources 40% of its crude oil imports from Russia, with year-to-date volumes averaging 1.6 million barrels per day (mbpd), according to BIMCO. This marks a staggering 1000% increase compared to 2021, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Indian buyers began ramping up their Russian oil imports in 2022 following sanctions by the EU and the US, which previously purchased about 65% of Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, according to BIMCO. However, sanctions have forced Russia to turn to new buyers, with India emerging as a key market for its discounted Urals crude oil. These cargoes are supposed to adhere to the G7 coalition’s price cap of $60 per barrel or less.
As a result, Russian crude oil’s share in India’s seaborne imports have increased, making India the largest buyer in mid-2023, consistently accounting for 35-40% of Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, according to BIMCO. At the same time, India’s seaborne crude oil imports from Persian Gulf countries have decreased from nearly 70% to 45% as the region redirects its exports to North Europe and the Mediterranean.
Chart courtesy BIMCO
BIMCO notes that the increase in Russian oil imports to India has led to a 10% rise in the average sailing distance for crude oil tankers and an 8% increase in total tonne miles, despite a 2% drop in volumes. The average sailing distance has increased by 25% compared to 2021.
India’s shift in crude oil buying patterns has led to increased use of Aframax and Suezmax tankers, now accounting for 55% of imports, while the use of VLCCs has decreased. The change has also resulted in an older age profile of ships discharging in India, with the average age increasing by four years and the share of ships older than 20 years rising from 2% to 13%.
BIMCO points out that Russia-India trade will likely continue at current levels under existing sanctions, but the International Energy Agency predicts that India’s rising oil demand may outpace Russia’s production, leading India to seek alternative suppliers.
India’s Crude Oil Imports from Russia Surge 1000%
Pakistan buys Supercam S350 drone from Russia to spy on India | WATCH
Pakistan has been using a multi-purpose surveillance drone named Supercam S350, which it bought from Russia, along its borders with India, Moscow-based media outlet Sputnik reported. To note, Pakistani forces had been using an earlier variant of the
This is Geo-politics 101@Rajput LionPakistan buys Supercam S350 drone from Russia to spy on India | WATCH
Pakistan has been using a multi-purpose surveillance drone named Supercam S350, which it bought from Russia, along its borders with India, Moscow-based media outlet Sputnik reported. To note, Pakistani forces had been using an earlier variant of theenglish.mathrubhumi.com
Russia built covert trade channel with India, leaks reveal
John Reed, Max Seddon, Chris Cook and John Paul Rathbone.
9 hours ago
Files outline Moscow’s plan to spend rupees from oil sales on sensitive electronics for war effort
@FTmontage, Getty Images.
Russia has been secretly acquiring sensitive goods in India and explored building facilities in the country to secure components for its war effort, according to Russian state correspondence seen by the Financial Times.
Moscow’s industry and trade ministry, which oversees defence production to support Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, drew up confidential plans in October 2022 to spend about Rs82bn ($1bn at the time) on securing critical electronics through channels hidden from western governments.
The plan, revealed in letters to a shadowy trade promotion body with strong links to the Russian security services, aimed to use “significant reserves” of rupees amassed by Russian banks from booming oil sales to India. It saw India as an alternative market to source crucial goods “previously supplied from unfriendly countries”.
Russia and its Indian partners targeted dual-use technologies — goods with both civilian and military applications — that are subject to western export controls, according to the documents, as well as western officials and two businessmen formerly involved in the trade. Moscow even envisaged pumping investment into Russo-Indian electronics development and production facilities, according to the leaked files.
The correspondence shows how Russia turned to New Delhi, even as Narendra Modi, the prime minister, brought the world’s most populous country closer than ever into the US orbit. During a state visit to Washington last year Modi signed a series of Indo-American co-operation agreements in areas ranging from advanced jet engines to artificial intelligence.
Narendra Modi, right, follows Vladimir Putin into the Grand Hall of the Kremlin during their bilateral meeting in July © Getty Images.
While the extent to which Moscow enacted its plan is unclear, detailed trade flow data suggest the relationship with India has grown deeper in the specific categories of goods identified in the Russian correspondence.
India’s ties with Moscow have been a growing source of friction with Washington. Wally Adeyemo, the US deputy treasury secretary, wrote in July to three of India’s top business organizations warning them that “any foreign financial institution that does business with Russia’s military industrial base risks being sanctioned itself”.
Adeyemo added: “These heightened sanctions risk exists regardless of the currency used in a transaction.”
While Modi has bemoaned the impact on developing economies of the invasion of Ukraine and urged the two sides to make peace, Delhi extended an economic lifeline to Russia after it was hit by western sanctions.
India has been a major buyer of Russian crude oil and the two countries’ total trade reached an all-time high of $66bn in the 2023-24 financial year, a fivefold increase on the past year before the invasion. Some of the trade has been transacted in rupees, leaving Russia with a surplus of the currency.
The Kremlin has admitted difficulties in repatriating Russia’s oil profits because of US sanctions and currency restrictions. Russian groups have used rupees to trade gold and purchase goods to evade the sanctions, according to people involved in the trade and western officials.
The Russian central government official involved in the leaked correspondence, Alexander Gaponov, is deputy head of the ministry’s “radio-electronics” division. It is an area of particular sensitivity because Russia is reliant on foreign-produced electronics for use in missiles, drones and electronic warfare.
Gaponov in October 2022 asked an opaque Moscow-based organization with ties to Russian security services — the Consortium for Foreign Economic Activity and International Interstate Cooperation in Industry — to present plans for acquiring critical components from India.
Vadim Poida, the consortium’s president, replied that it had developed “specific plans” with the Russian electronics industry and “representatives of the relevant Indian state and private businesses” that had “high potential” for making use of the Kremlin’s rupees.
Poida outlined a five-stage plan to help Russia spend its rupees and establish a steady supply of dual-use components. Russia would set up a “closed payment system between Russian and Indian companies” beyond the oversight of western countries, “including by using digital financial assets”, Poida wrote.
Poida’s consortium estimated Russia could purchase up to Rbs100bn of components, including parts for “telecommunication, server, and other complex electronic equipment” previously bought through western countries.
Its members, Poida wrote, had begun pilot projects for producing Russian-designed components in India and conducted “detailed work on the issue of hiding information about the participation of Russian individuals and corporate entities, as well as the logistics of supply via third countries”.
Additional funds could be spent on backing joint ventures in India for electronics factories needed “to meet the needs of Russian critical information infrastructure”.
The consortium’s legal entity was set up in 2013, nominally as a vehicle for app development. Poida took it over and renamed it in March of 2022, less than a month after Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One western official confirmed the group, which mentions meetings involving the security services in the leaked correspondence, is a front for Russian intelligence.
The leaked exchange of letters mentions paying for two specific customs categories of goods, types of electronics and machinery, in rupees. Russian filings show that trade in these categories has soared from negligible volumes in mid-2022.
Customs filings also reveal specific items that potentially match the project’s activities. Innovio Ventures, an Indian company, was listed in trade declarations as the supplier of at least $4.9mn of electronic equipment, including drones, to Russia as well as $600,000 of goods shipped to Kyrgyzstan. The transactions were listed in Russian filings as settled in rupees.
The shipments to Russia include $568,000 of electronic equipment for use in radio-electronic systems to a Russian company called Testkomplekt, which has been hit by US and EU sanctions for being at the heart of Moscow’s military procurement system.
An Indian businessman familiar with Russia’s trade with India said Moscow had also done scoping work to establish facilities in India.
“Part of this [rupee pile] was to be deployed in India for coming up with the necessary manufacturing of dual-use items,” the Indian businessman said. “It could be low-value electronics items like the ones found in washing machines or refrigerators.”
“You could either export these items or take the electronics out and send them to Russia,” he added.
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John Reed, Max Seddon, Chris Cook and John Paul Rathbone.
9 hours ago
Files outline Moscow’s plan to spend rupees from oil sales on sensitive electronics for war effort
@FTmontage, Getty Images.
Russia has been secretly acquiring sensitive goods in India and explored building facilities in the country to secure components for its war effort, according to Russian state correspondence seen by the Financial Times.
Moscow’s industry and trade ministry, which oversees defence production to support Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, drew up confidential plans in October 2022 to spend about Rs82bn ($1bn at the time) on securing critical electronics through channels hidden from western governments.
The plan, revealed in letters to a shadowy trade promotion body with strong links to the Russian security services, aimed to use “significant reserves” of rupees amassed by Russian banks from booming oil sales to India. It saw India as an alternative market to source crucial goods “previously supplied from unfriendly countries”.
Russia and its Indian partners targeted dual-use technologies — goods with both civilian and military applications — that are subject to western export controls, according to the documents, as well as western officials and two businessmen formerly involved in the trade. Moscow even envisaged pumping investment into Russo-Indian electronics development and production facilities, according to the leaked files.
The correspondence shows how Russia turned to New Delhi, even as Narendra Modi, the prime minister, brought the world’s most populous country closer than ever into the US orbit. During a state visit to Washington last year Modi signed a series of Indo-American co-operation agreements in areas ranging from advanced jet engines to artificial intelligence.
Narendra Modi, right, follows Vladimir Putin into the Grand Hall of the Kremlin during their bilateral meeting in July © Getty Images.
While the extent to which Moscow enacted its plan is unclear, detailed trade flow data suggest the relationship with India has grown deeper in the specific categories of goods identified in the Russian correspondence.
India’s ties with Moscow have been a growing source of friction with Washington. Wally Adeyemo, the US deputy treasury secretary, wrote in July to three of India’s top business organizations warning them that “any foreign financial institution that does business with Russia’s military industrial base risks being sanctioned itself”.
Adeyemo added: “These heightened sanctions risk exists regardless of the currency used in a transaction.”
While Modi has bemoaned the impact on developing economies of the invasion of Ukraine and urged the two sides to make peace, Delhi extended an economic lifeline to Russia after it was hit by western sanctions.
India has been a major buyer of Russian crude oil and the two countries’ total trade reached an all-time high of $66bn in the 2023-24 financial year, a fivefold increase on the past year before the invasion. Some of the trade has been transacted in rupees, leaving Russia with a surplus of the currency.
The Kremlin has admitted difficulties in repatriating Russia’s oil profits because of US sanctions and currency restrictions. Russian groups have used rupees to trade gold and purchase goods to evade the sanctions, according to people involved in the trade and western officials.
The Russian central government official involved in the leaked correspondence, Alexander Gaponov, is deputy head of the ministry’s “radio-electronics” division. It is an area of particular sensitivity because Russia is reliant on foreign-produced electronics for use in missiles, drones and electronic warfare.
Gaponov in October 2022 asked an opaque Moscow-based organization with ties to Russian security services — the Consortium for Foreign Economic Activity and International Interstate Cooperation in Industry — to present plans for acquiring critical components from India.
Vadim Poida, the consortium’s president, replied that it had developed “specific plans” with the Russian electronics industry and “representatives of the relevant Indian state and private businesses” that had “high potential” for making use of the Kremlin’s rupees.
Poida outlined a five-stage plan to help Russia spend its rupees and establish a steady supply of dual-use components. Russia would set up a “closed payment system between Russian and Indian companies” beyond the oversight of western countries, “including by using digital financial assets”, Poida wrote.
Poida’s consortium estimated Russia could purchase up to Rbs100bn of components, including parts for “telecommunication, server, and other complex electronic equipment” previously bought through western countries.
Its members, Poida wrote, had begun pilot projects for producing Russian-designed components in India and conducted “detailed work on the issue of hiding information about the participation of Russian individuals and corporate entities, as well as the logistics of supply via third countries”.
Additional funds could be spent on backing joint ventures in India for electronics factories needed “to meet the needs of Russian critical information infrastructure”.
The consortium’s legal entity was set up in 2013, nominally as a vehicle for app development. Poida took it over and renamed it in March of 2022, less than a month after Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One western official confirmed the group, which mentions meetings involving the security services in the leaked correspondence, is a front for Russian intelligence.
The leaked exchange of letters mentions paying for two specific customs categories of goods, types of electronics and machinery, in rupees. Russian filings show that trade in these categories has soared from negligible volumes in mid-2022.
Customs filings also reveal specific items that potentially match the project’s activities. Innovio Ventures, an Indian company, was listed in trade declarations as the supplier of at least $4.9mn of electronic equipment, including drones, to Russia as well as $600,000 of goods shipped to Kyrgyzstan. The transactions were listed in Russian filings as settled in rupees.
The shipments to Russia include $568,000 of electronic equipment for use in radio-electronic systems to a Russian company called Testkomplekt, which has been hit by US and EU sanctions for being at the heart of Moscow’s military procurement system.
An Indian businessman familiar with Russia’s trade with India said Moscow had also done scoping work to establish facilities in India.
“Part of this [rupee pile] was to be deployed in India for coming up with the necessary manufacturing of dual-use items,” the Indian businessman said. “It could be low-value electronics items like the ones found in washing machines or refrigerators.”
“You could either export these items or take the electronics out and send them to Russia,” he added.
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This seems like an attempt to build public pressure on New Delhi. Both EU & US have already sanctioned many of these electronics manufacturers already.
I had written about this some time back.
Link: Indian semiconductor ecosystem: News, Updates & Discussions.
Like I said back then, these companies have minimal (if any) contacts with the US & EU. Sanctions won't have any effect on them. They are not publicly listed on the stock market. You can't even short their stocks. So, the Americans tried to intimidate these industries. From the article:
This was in July 2024. Intimidation hasn't really worked. India's exports of metals, machinery & electronics to Russia have grown rapidly. So, they tried intimidation again in August:
https://www.business-standard.com/c...sia-us-cautions-india-inc-124081900780_1.html
In August, US deputy treasury secretary Adeyemo threatened to sanction countries that host Russian bank branches:
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Because these banks are now facilitating the host countries trade with Russia, sometimes in local currencies. So, the US deputy treasury secretary specified:
Meanwhile US deputy NSA is in India. Unlike the last time, this time he is whispering sweet nothings in New Delhi's ears:
I hope we can offer better value than Moscow to India on defence or energy: US Deputy NSA
This is very clearly a carrot & stick game. In which the stick, sanctions, has already been used & haven't proved to be very effective. I doubt these Indian MSMEs withstood sanctions & multiple rounds of verbal threats without any backing from New Delhi.
Let's see what carrot the Americans have to offer.
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