I personally do not see russia winning many deals with the present government in power , even if these products are good and cheap.
That is the problem with democracy... mood swings worse than any girlfriend you have ever had. And of course the problem that if you haven't completed negotiations before the elections you might have to start again with a new lot...
Having said that Russia and India have invested a lot of time and energy in each other... it seems a shame to waste it because a new government clearly likes the larger bribes they are likely getting from the US.
If Russia turns away from India when a friendly government gets in how will they feel about Russia selling Mig-35s to Pakistan? How will they feel about Russia selling Su-35s to Pakistan? Or S-300 systems etc.
The current trade is minimal... Hip helos in civilian models and the RD-93... which is actually an early model RD-33 modified especially for the Chinese. The Russians have no domestic use for the RD-93 so of course they are going to agree to sell it to the Chinese who will sell it on to Pakistan.
There have been rumours of India working with Sukhoi on the KS-172 long range AAM, perhaps Pakistan would like to buy some old Mig-31s with R-37s and R-77s.
I think India would not mind Russian sales to Pakistan as long as they don't effect the current balance. I think the weapon systems Pakistan will want to buy however will be the systems they can't get from the US... like Yakhont and Flankers.
Of course buying ATAKA missiles for their UCAVs would be useful because the weapon has good performance without wire guidance and already includes HE FRAG warhead versions.
I don't know why people keep recalling Cold war thing again & again; when we have learnt that their were mistakes the result of which we have been facing since 9/11. We need Moscow support in building infra-structure & such...
Moscow has experience at rebuilding cities... look at Grozny... the problem is that Pakistan was part of the problem in Chechnya as was Saudi Arabia and the west as well... so it really is not just a cold war thing.
With respect I can understand with drone attacks from the US that is supposed to be your ally you might be reconsidering your relationships, but there are large and powerful elements in Pakistan that support the Taleban and the Chechen rebels.
Pakistan needs to sit down and have a good think about its future... will it be with the US and/or Russia or the wahhabists... because neither Russia nor the US like the wahhabists and vice versa.
Be it not defence deals there are other factors of engineering we need Moscow. India has shown how it can diverse its defence machinery then why can't Moscow learn from it with respect to Pakistan!
A valid point. Russia does not want to become dependent on energy exports to survive... it would also benefit her to have a much broader range of military export customers too. Perhaps it should start with economic trade... Russia should look at high tech stuff that will benefit isolated areas... like self contained power generation systems that are clean and reliable for remote population centres... Pakistan and India would both benefit from such things and remote settlements in Russia will also benefit too.
Pakistan will play a major role there and a bad relationship with Russia would mean more of Afganistan Drugs and Terrorism problem lying in CIS/Russia foot steps.
Actually I disagree. Pakistan will have a big role to play in the future of Afghanistan, but even if everything goes t!ts up and somehow the Taleban take over they have a proven record of being more anti drug than the US. The Taleban dealt with the poppy fields much more effectively and efficiently than any regime since.
This sort of result will be terrible for the Afghan people as they remain in a time bubble isolated from the rest of the world and living in the 1700s, but it is their choice. They could have supported the Soviets in the 1980s, or the west in the 2000s, but they have clearly chosen their own. Let them live with their choice... it is not the position of Russia to impose a choice like that on another country... that is what they learned in the 1980s.