Russia & India: Reading between the lines

The officialese does not reveal why India plays a weaker hand with Russia than China

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and Indian arms imports from Russia highlight good Russia-India ties; a continuation of the Indo-Soviet amicability that survived after Russia became the successor state to the former USSR in 1991. 

But official statements often conceal more than they reveal. This is true of the Joint Indo-Russian declaration, signed by President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they celebrated 70 years of ‘Indo-Russian’ diplomatic ties and friendship on June 1 at the St Petersburg Economic Forum. Nevertheless, Russia had broader regional interests in wanting India and Pakistan to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)