Russia's response in Syria needs to be global not competitive: Ex R&AW chief

New Delhi, Oct 3: With the Russians carrying out a bombing campaign in Syria against the ISIS, the Americans have spared no opportunity to express displeasure. US President, Barack Obama warned that the bombing campaign will push Russia into a quagmire.

Obama also accused Russian President, Vladimir Putin of acting out of a position of weakness to defend a crumbling authoritarian ally.

What does the move by Russia mean and is Putin stamping his authority now? Will this campaign by Russia weaken the ISIS or will it add confusion to the ongoing war on terror?

C D Sahay, former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing discusses with OneIndia the scenario in the event of the Russians carrying out bombings in Syria.

It should not be a competitive response:

The Russian airstrikes in Syria come at a time when the entire world is dealing with the problem of terror. One must remember that even the Russians are part of the war on terror as much as an America or France is, Sahay says.

In an ideal situation if there is this kind of global coordination on the war against terror, then it must be welcomed. However the sense one is getting at the moment is that Russia's decision to carry out airstrikes in Syria does not look like a global response to terrorism. It appears to be a competitive response, the former R&AW chief says.

I hope that this is a global response to terror and not a competitive response. If the response is competitive in nature then it would do more harm than good to the global war on terror. We have seen what happened in our neighbourhood and this should not repeat in Syria.

When there was a war on terror that was announced in our neighbourhood, the results were there for everyone to see. Has it solved the problem? No it has not. After a couple of years distinctions were made between good and bad terror, Sahay says.

Further C D Sahay also adds that whenever there is this kind of a sectoral fight the large agenda takes over the narrative. One must remember in such wars that the real narrative and that is to defeat terrorism must prevail. Indeed one would presume that after the Ukraine issue there has been a deep divide between Russia and America. We hope we do not see this scenario post Syria as well.

I would not say that Putin is trying to stamp his authority on the world. Instead it would be too premature to make such a comment now. It is not correct to say that the days of the USSR are returning or the cold war is back, Sahay points out.

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