Recently, it was published in THE HINDU on 29th September 2018 that Defence Ministry of Russia had put forward a request to Indian Defence Minister to gift them 3 Mig-21 Aircrafts in a Flight- Worthy condition whereas according to Ministry officials, the cost of crating and transportation will be borne by the Russians.
“Three MiG-21s are scheduled to be handed over to Russians based on a request from their Defence Minister to our Defence Minister. They comprise one Type 75 aircraft and two Type 77 aircraft,” an official source said.
This will be finalised in the 2 days visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India which is scheduled on 4th and 5th of October 2018. He will be flying to New Delhi in his IL96 Jet ( same like Air Force One of American President ) to participate in 19th Installment of Annual Indo-Russian Summit.
IMPORTANCE OF MIG-21
Russia and India possess a very good relationship since 1950s and Mig 21 is a big example of their friendly ties. India had started purchasing Mig 21 from Russia immediately after Sino- Indian war in 1962 when India realised the significant deficiency of important fighter Aircrafts in IAF. That time, many other nations including USA, Great Britain, France, Germany etc proposed their Aircrafts but India chose Mikoyan-Gurevich 21. The reasons which propelled India’s interest to chose Mig. were simple. USSR was giving Aircrafts along with full ToT ( Transfer of Technology ) and Right to Licence- build Aircrafts in the country. It was the first Supersonic Aircraft of the nation. It played important role in Indo- Pak war of 1971 ( in 1965, the deal was still under process ) and a very limited role in 1999 Kargil war, where Mirage – 2000 played the key role in Operation Safed Sagar ( IAF operation in Kargil War ).
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR RUSSIA
If to understand this request from Russian point of view, then The MiG-21 has more of emotional value for Russia, as it has the distinction of being the most produced supersonic fighter in history. According to the website militaryfactory.com, close to 11,500 aircrafts were built and operated by over 50 countries. USSR stopped producing Mig 21 in 1980s while HAL ( Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ) was still upgrading the Mig-21s. HAL also developed an advanced version of Mig-21, which was known as Mig 21 Bison, which increased it’s lifespan by 20 years. Presently, IAF is having 115-120 updated Mig 21s but IAF would hardly rely on their Mig-21s if a war like situation come across. Reasons are, they are the oldest Aircrafts in IAF stocks and they are most fragile aircrafts these days. There are many incidents in recent time where we saw these Aircrafts were crashing after a minimal failure or error, even some times they had crashed during their take offs. This was reason they were once being termed as THE FLYING COFFIN. These remaining Aircrafts will be phased Out of Service by 2021-2022.
IMPORTANCE OF THIS VISIT OF VLADIMIR PUTIN
Now the reasons why this visit of Mr. Putin is Important for India and Russia, It is clearly understood from Indian side that India will sign the most strategic deal of five S-400 Air Defence Missile System in 40,000 Crore with Russia. US Officials have warned India against the impending sale of S-400, to which Mrs, Nirmala SithaRaman told to the media on September 17, 2018 that ” the deal is in it’s final Stage and cannot be withdrawn”. US also threatened India by quoting that they will possess Economic Sanctions on India just like they have put Sanctions on Chinese Military, and with this Sanction, Chinese Military cannot make any purchase in USDs. This Sanction can produce catastrophic changes in Indian Economy as post this, US Investors will pull themselves out and then it can make impact in our Foreign Exchange Reserve. Though India will have lot to loose and stakes are higher in Indian side but then also, India and Russia are quoting Brave Faces together without considering any major warning by showing their Bilateral Relationship. So, this gift of 3 Mig-21s can be testament of showcasting this intent of both Nations.
Also, India will also sign Agreement to produce AK- 103 assault rifles ,which is a joint venture of HAL and Rostec, 4 Talwar class frigates, Russia to open a unit of Ka-226 Helicopter in India under Make in India Project, 2 IL-78 transport plane which will be installed with Israeli Early warning systems, ISRO Astronauts to get trained by Russia for it’s aspiring Astronauts Space Mission.
Taking US Sanctions into consideration, then Russia has nothing to loose because Russia is already suffering American Economic Sanctions which was imposed on to them. Russian interest from this deal would be to sign LEMOA and COMCASA like agreements which India has signed with USA.
COMCASA
India and the U.S. on September 6, 2018 signed the foundational or enabling agreement COMCASA on the side-lines of the inaugural 2+2 dialogue.
COMCASA stands for Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement and is one of the four foundational agreements that the U.S. signs with allies and close partners to facilitate interoperability between militaries and sale of high end technology.COMCASA allows India to procure transfer specialised equipment for encrypted communications for US origin military platforms like the C-17, C-130 and P-8Is.
This will also enable greater communications interoperability between the militaries of India and the US. Data acquired through such systems cannot be disclosed or transferred to any person or entity without India’s consent.
LEMOA
LEMOA stands for Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement . LEMOA gives access, to both countries, to designated military facilities on either side for the purpose of refuelling and replenishment. India and the U.S. already hold large number of joint exercises during which payments are done each time, which is a long and tedious process.
RUSSIAN INTERESTS
Now Russia is expecting India to sign such Agreements with them also as Russia is Quoting that this agreement will help India to have all those privileges with Russia. Underneath this, a fear which is running in the veins of Russia is COMCASA agreement, which is giving platform to US to have an access of the discussions of Indian Defence officials which can sometimes be of any of Russian Weapons. So ultimately, this agreement will act as a platform for USA to the details about Russian weapons which is being used by India. So Russia is also trying to have such platforms with India to avoid any of such instances to occur.
Now let’s hope that both Nations will sign the deals and India should get exemptions from US Sanctions as India is already a close ally of USA, and India and USA have many Defence Deals in future which are already proposed.
Sources
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