It’s been a busy week in India, where Vladimir Putin was greeted with much the same treatment as President Bush got during his visit in March of last year. Putin’s visit was preceded by the announcement of increased military cooperation between the two countries, specifically a joint project to develop a fifth-generation fighter jet that will compete with the American-led F-35 project. That project will be in addition to a further $18 billion worth of arms India has already agreed to buy from Russia through 2010, including 16 MiG-29Ks for carrier operations. Putin’s visit also included an offer to build four more nuclear power plants in India in addition to the two which are already under construction. Of course, this all comes in the wake of great efforts by the Bush administration to forge closer ties between the United States and India. Last month in the pages of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Daniel Twining described India as a potential “swing state” that could help offset the growing military and economic power of China. Said Twining:
The idea is that India and the United States are natural allies. But some are skeptical that India is ready to assume the mantle of responsible world power. Closer ties with an ever more authoritarian Russia don’t bode well. The first MiG-29KUB undergoes flight testing in Russia earlier this week.
(Courtesy RIA Novosti, Sergey Pyatakov)
