Russia’s Changing Relations with Pakistan and Taliban: Implications for India
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0973598418761727 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
1
Assistant Professor, Department of International Affairs and Security Studies, Sardar
Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Corresponding author:
Vinay Kaura, Assistant Professor, Department of International Affairs and Security
Studies, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur,
Rajasthan, India.
E-mail: vinay@policeuniversity.ac.in
Russia’s Changing
Relations with
Pakistan and Taliban:
Implications for India
Vinay Kaura1
Abstract
Historically, India–Russia cooperation has largely been dictated by
geopolitical factors. During the Cold War era, their relationship
was defined by their similar strategic perceptions of the world.
However, post-Cold War global politics has seen several transfor-
mations in geopolitical and geostrategic configurations, influencing
the strategic worldview of both New Delhi and Moscow. Recent
political trends demonstrate the growing divergence between the
strategic approaches of the two states toward various global issues,
including Pakistan and the Taliban. The article discusses the impli-
cations of the shift in Russia’s South Asia policy as well as India’s
counterterrorism efforts.
Keywords
India–Russia relations, China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, Taliban,
Vladimir Putin, terrorism, military exercise
Jadavpur Journal of
International Relations
22(1) 58–79
2018 Jadavpur University
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0973598418761727
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/jnr
Kaura 59
Introduction
India and Russia are time-tested partners, a commitment which is unfail-
ingly emphasized in every joint statement made by the Indian and
Russian leaders, particularly during their annual summits. However, the
mutual trust between them seems to have been undermined by the imper-
atives of contemporary shifts in global geopolitics. The recent tensions
in the US–Russia relations, an issue which has always influenced Indo-
Russian ties since the Cold War, has further aggravated the problems
between Moscow and New Delhi. Moscow’s worldview is churning
under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. In its renewed world-
view, Russia is keen to attain the status of an indispensable power across
multiple theatres of the world to maintain its geopolitical relevance.
Therefore, Russia is making attempts to fill up the power vacuum across
regions where it perceives that there is a tactical indecision on the part of
the USA. This has led to profound consequences for Russia’s South Asia
policy, especially in its relations with New Delhi.
Proximity with Pakistan
During the Cold War years, Indo-Russian cooperation on political and
strategic issues was reflective of the positions that the two countries took
on most of the global issues. Moscow backed New Delhi’s position on
the issue of Kashmir, putting its weight behind India’s confidence in the
international arena. The Indo-Soviet Treaty of 1971 gave India the
psychological strength to respond to the Pakistani misadventure that ulti-
mately led to the division of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh.
Policy differences were often expressed in private. At the same time,
Moscow–Islamabad relations had been poisoned by Pakistan’s alliance
with the USA in the Cold War against the Soviet Union.
In 1947, Pakistan inherited the Durand Line from British colonial
India as its northwestern border with Afghanistan. The 2,250 km border
which was created under very controversial circumstances, arbitrarily
divided the traditional Pashtun lands between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Many nationalist Afghans regarded ‘Pashtunistan’ as their historic home-
land. For Afghan governments, support for largely ill-defined Pashtunistan
has been a way to minimize Pakistan’s interference in their country as
well as to rally behind the Pashtun majority in Afghanistan. For Islamabad,
the issue represents a territorial claim against Pakistan (Bezhan 2014;
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