ISAS Working Papers

Since the 1960s defence trade has been the raison d'?¬tre for strategic relations between India and the Soviet Union/Russia. However, in consonance with India's enhanced geopolitical status and the strategic rapprochement with the United States, New Delhi has found new partners in the West. India's military-technical relationship with Russia is no longer an exclusive partnership. The resultant downgrade in Indo-Russian defence engagement has unsettled longstanding geo-political equations. Given the export-dependent nature of the Russian military-industrial complex, the Kremlin has begun to revise elements of its arms policy in South Asia. Russian military export overtures towards Pakistan are now perceptible. In order to recapture their old charm and take their military partnership into the 21st century, recurring problems in Indo-Russian defence engagement must be ironed out.