India Russia Relations The Soviet Interlude

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Kaustav Chakrabarti was born in Kolkata. After having completed his graduation and Masters at Jadavpur University in Modern History with American History as Special Paper, he submitted his M. Phil dissertation on the History of the Jews of Calcutta at the University of Calcutta. He has been Visiting Research Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, on an Israel Government Scholarship programme for the academic session 2005- 06. He did a project on European Jewish Immigrants in India between the two World Wars under the supervision of Prof. Irene Eber, Professor, East Asian Studies, of the said University. He has been awarded a doctorate by the University of Calcutta Dr. Kaustav Chakrabarti is a strong proponent of India- Israel ties and has contributed articles of interest on Jews, Israel and Zionism for journals and the website think-israel. org. He has also lectured on Calcutta Jews and Zionism before the students and Faculty of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Residential College. He is Assistant Professor in History at Fakir Chand College, Diamond Harbour. Besides his interest in Jewish history and culture, Dr. Chakrabarti is equally interested in Russian and East European studies. The present work on India- Russia relations during the Soviet period is corroborative of his wide ranging scholarly pursuits in diverse fields. It provides a bird's eye-view of the multi-dimensional relationship between the two countries in the years gone by, with it's many facets, this book is a reader's delight, with an appeal to the heart as well as the head.

Dr. Kaustav Chakrabarti, Asst Prof in History, Fakir Chand College, Diamond Harbour, is a person with wide ranging scholarly interest in diverse fields. The present work concentrates on Indo-Russia relations during the Soviet era. Already a vast mass of literature exists on the subject. But the present work marks a refreshing departure from many other works in the field this one is a seminal project with a bewildering variety of source materials that he has painstakingly gleaned from different sources. It covers a wide gamut of topics that would give the reader an insight of the significance of relations between India and Russia and how it has continued till the present day. The work has certain distinctive features. The author's mention of the interaction between India revolutionaries abroad and their Russian counter- parts both during the pre and Soviet periods is especially interesting. He has devoted a considerable part of his work to enlightening us as to the relationship between Subhas Chandra Bose and the USSR, with a translation from German sources, which is particularly valuable. Of special interest to us is the technical and military cooperation that the USSR extended to India in the post-independence period when no Western country was practically willing to cooperate except for motives of profit. At a time when India was trying to shake off the ennui of colonial hangover through reconstruction programmes to provide her citizens with a minimum standard of life, the Soviet Union came forward with its available resources to enable India to achieve her goals of freedom and self-reliance.

Interstate relations is a tricky business, for diplomacy tends to give priority to the rational and the "useful" over the emotional The prioritization of national interest tends to override all matters of the heart. The field of India-Russia relations during the Soviet period is one such instance of two states coming together by weighing out the different pros and cons, a relation that was to have a lasting impact both during and after the Cold War In this context, it is indeed difficult, as well as painful, to write the history of a State, that had a relationship with India transcending geographical and emotional barriers. Strangely enough, though India and the erstwhile Soviet Union had marked out different charts of political development, both had converged at some time or the other, with a healthy sense of respect and purpose. This cooperation was multidimensional covering practically all aspects of politics and economics. The relationship between India and the USSR was unmatched and unlike any other in the difficult terrain of international politics. Intellectuals and common people all over the world hailed the Great October Revolution as a harbinger of the liberation of mankind and of great things to come. It was indeed remarkable that a people living in virtual slavery for the past thousand years or so should suddenly wake up with a sense of purpose and determination to build their country from scratch under intense pressure both from within and without, from the lack of sufficient personnel and technical expertise, to the lack of international recognition of the so-called Great Powers, to sabotage from counter-revolutionaries to foreign intervention that threatened to choke the life out of the Soviet system. Yet, the Revolution succeeded and the Soviet people were able to hold their own despite tremendous odds. The Soviet success in the spheres of economic and political re-construction was a beacon to the oppressed peoples of Asia and Africa who were groaning under the yoke of colonial exploitation and poverty. The Soviet Union extended moral and material support to national liberation movements all over the world, its resources permitting.