The United Service Institution of India was founded in 1870 by a soldier scholar, Colonel (later Major General) Sir Charles MacGregor. The story of its growth is the story of the growth of the Indian Armed Forces. It was founded for ‘furtherance of interest and knowledge in the art, science and literature of the Defence Services.’
An Interaction with the Russian Delegation from the Higher School of Economics (HSE), Moscow, Russia.
Report
The Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (CS3), the United Service Institution of India (USI), hosted an interaction with the Higher School of Economics (HSE), Moscow, Russia on 3rd March 2023. The delegation included Ms Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, HSE, along with Ms Alexandra Morozkina and Ms Olga Kharina. The Indian side, included the Maj Gen BK Sharma, AVSM, SM and Bar (Retd), Director General of USI, Maj Gen RPS Bhadauria, VSM (Retd), Director, CS3, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, PVSM, AVSM, NM, ADC (Retd), Lt Gen Arun Kumar Sahni, PVSM, UYSM, SM, VSM,(Retd), Air Marshal (Dr) Rajeev Sachdeva, AVSM (Retd), Mr Sam Bhasin, Maj Gen Rajendra Singh Yadav, VSM (Retd), Distinguish Fellow USI, and Dr Roshan Khanijo Assistant Director(Research).
The agenda for the discussion broadly centred on measures to implement the MoU for further collaboration in the area of Geopolitics, strengthening India-Russia bilateral relations, Geoeconomics and Strategic Security cooperation such as Climate Change, Defence production and Cybersecurity.
Indian side discussed various prospects of cooperation between India and Russia, such as the need to increase engagement in the Arctic region, Far-east Russia, Central Asian Republics (CARs), and the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC). A great emphasis was given to people-to-people contact between both countries for exploring the opportunities for bilateral cooperation such as researchers’ dialogue on Climate Change and entrepreneurs’ engagement in defence production.
Air Marshal (Dr) Rajeev Sachdeva, AVSM (Retd), emphasised the need for research for Russians to understand India’s current shift towards purchasing western defence equipment instead of Russian defence equipment. Mr Sam Bhasin highlighted the bilateral challenges such as credit exchange rate, shipping insurance & cost and India’s high trade deficit with Russia.
Russian delegation recognised the challenges and agreed to work together. They emphasised cooperation at both macroeconomics and at developmental economics.
Report by Mr Manav Saini.