India and Russia
Pragmatism defined the partnership between India and the Soviet Union. What sustained it was the overlap between India’s non-alignment strategy and the USSR’s objective of countering the American policy of containment. The Soviet leadership sold India substantial amounts of arms and helped build its state-run industrial sector; India’s leaders saw the Soviet connection as a counterbalance against Pakistan, China, and the United States. Pragmatism also defines the India–Russia relationship. Russia remains India’s largest arms supplier. Their views on sovereignty, the dangers of unilateral military intervention, and the threats posed by terrorism converge. But Russia’s salience for India’s trade and investment has been surpassed by the West, even China. India is diversifying its arms purchases; the West and Israel are eager to oblige. Russia’s relative power is declining as China’s is rising; in response, India has forged new security ties with East Asia and the United States.