Southern Asia

A great success has been achieved in one area of cooperation between India and Russia: the military and technical sphere. For quite some time now, the Republic of India has been viewed as a key importer of Russian weapons. In recent years, this special status enjoyed by India has come into question. However, these doubts were dispelled after India signed an agreement with Russia to purchase its S-400 Triumf missile system in October 2018.

The terror attack, which occurred on 14 February near the town of Pulwama in the district with the same name of the Jammu and Kashmir state, struck a serious blow to not only any positive (but weak) trends in the relationship between India and Pakistan, but also to the situation evolving in the subregion of South Asia as a whole.

On February 5, the online naval defense magazine Navy Recognition (part of a group of similar online publications registered in Belgium), made a vague reference to certain plans China has for its “military and foreign policies”, reporting the sensational news, which quickly became the subject of comments in international media.

In the last year Islamabad has entered into dialogue with Kabul as part of its talks with the USA.

We have already used the term “crossroads” when we discussed new trends in Japan’s foreign policy. These changes stem from an ongoing process of radical transformation that has engulfed the entire world of politics including the regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
All the somewhat significant constituent parts of the political map of the world are in a state of heightened and chaotic flux, as they attempt to find their new place (by trial and error) in this ever-changing political landscape.

On 11 December of this year, five Indian states held assembly elections and their results are certainly noteworthy. Especially in light of the upcoming general elections to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, a key event in the nation’s political life, to be held in spring of next year.

During just the last two weeks of November and the beginning of December, it was possible to bear witness to an extraordinary transformation to the way the US President views Pakistan’s role in several significant (both past as well as current) events in world politics.

We have already reported earlier that the victory of the Movement for Justice party, headed by the current Prime Minister Imran Khan, in the parliamentary elections in Pakistan at the end of June of this year added a glimmer of hope to the prospects of India–Pakistan relations. Imran Khan’s election campaign rhetoric had given rise to such hopes.

India is one of Russia’s strategic partners in Asia. For many decades the two countries have shared warm ties and engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation. This is still true today despite certain aspects of foreign policies adopted by two nations, as, for instance, India’s cooperation with the USA and the Russian Federation’s strengthening relations with Pakistan, one of India’s main rivals.