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Synopsis Shadows of Substance is an account of trade and military technical cooperation between India and Russia from the time of the foundation of the new Russian state at the end of 1991 to the present day. It provides the first survey of the activities of the Indian private sector in Russia, showing how it has become pivotal to the bulk of the commerce between the two countries. It also provides a statement on the growing importance of India to the Russian military industrial complex.

The argument is developed through a close examination of pre-Soviet and post-Soviet times, bringing the story up to the present day. The book provides a background on the economic relationship between India and the USSR, touching on the main debates pre-1991 and examines the entry of private enterprise in an area in which the public sector was traditionally dominant. It then traces the impact of Soviet disintegration on the Russian Federation, and the consequences of the Russian reforms for the economy of the new state. It locates Indo-Russian trade in goods and collaboration in military-technical affairs within this framework. The agreements that governed the relationship and the attempts by governments to promote commerce are kept in mind. The course of what took place is traced through material available from published and unpublished sources, as well as interviews with entrepreneurs and officials.