The Sky Is the Limit for the Indo-Russian Relationship

President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to India is expected to give a new direction to the time-tested Indo-Russian special privileged strategic partnership.

Pranay Kumar Shome

On his first state visit to India since 2022, President Vladimir Putin and his large delegation are further expected to reinforce ties with India. The visit is going to take place over two days — December 4-5—and represents the 23^rd edition of the India-Russia annual summit. The arrival of President Putin is taking place at a time of increasing pressure being imposed by the West on the time-tested Indo-Russian relationship. Given the strategic importance of this visit, it is highly pertinent to undertake an incisive analysis about the various facets of the visit.

Reaction of India Media

The media landscape of India has been buzzing with the various implications of this consequential visit. There are several themes that the India media is focusing on:

Personal Rapport — When Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally received President Putin at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, it was a testament to the strong partnership both countries enjoy.

India and Russia are expected to finalize the declaration for the Development of Strategic Areas of India-Russia Economic Cooperation until 2030

Strategic Balancing — At a time when the American administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on India, 25% of which is a penalty for buying Russian crude oil, the visit of the Russian head of state is being looked at as an important test of India’s doctrine of strategic balancing, especially how India is going to manage the Indo-Russian relationship alongside the Indo-European and Indo-American ones, given the fact that big-ticket bilateral free trade deal negotiations are currently underway with the U.S. and the EU.

Cooperation in Key Areas — The visit is being considered significant from the point of view of cooperation in two key sectors: energy and defence. Russia has pitched its lethal fifth-generation fighter jet, the Su-57, and on the other hand, India has evinced interest in further buying more batteries of the missile defense system S-400. Further, India is also looking at acquiring the more advanced S-500. Apart from this, Russia is actively advocating the idea of building Small Modular Reactors (SMR) in India, a new generation of nuclear reactors that produces electricity with the release of very low carbon emissions. Further, more cooperation is expected in the expansion of the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP). This clearly highlights the fact that this visit is much more about substance than merely optics.

Difficult Choices — A section of the Indian commentariat highlighted that the visit comes at a time of difficult choices for India, particularly in the field of defense as New Delhi is dependent on Moscow for servicing more than 50% of India’s defense needs, thereby raising eyebrows in Western capitals.

Commercial and Trade Interests

President Putin has come with a large business delegation in order to expand trade and commercial opportunities. In this context, India and Russia are expected to finalize the declaration for the Development of Strategic Areas of India-Russia Economic Cooperation until 2030.

Apart from this, a labor mobility agreement between the two countries will be signed; this will enhance the movement of skilled professionals from India to Russia.

Even though the bilateral trade relationship between the two countries has reached a new milestone of $68.7 billion, it is skewed against India. Therefore, both countries are keen to bridge this asymmetry and establish parity. In that context, the visit of the Russian agricultural minister assumes importance. During the talks, Russia has evinced interest in importing more meat and fish products from India. In addition to this, both countries have demonstrated their interest in jointly developing the trout market through a technical collaboration that could lead to joint ventures.

As a part of this initiative to ensure a balanced trade relationship, India already began negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Union for a potential free trade agreement. The visit of President Putin is expected to accelerate these negotiations. Through this, India is expected to increase the exports of its pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and engineering goods to the trade bloc.

New Prospects

Notwithstanding the primacy of defense in the Indo-Russian strategic relationship, it must be borne in mind that such an important partnership cannot remain confined to just a few areas. There remains immense scope for the Indo-Russian relationship. Both countries can collaborate on frontier technologies like biotechnology, nanotechnology, blockchain, and, most importantly, AI. Further, space, where India has made rapid strides in such a limited period of time, remains a key area of cooperation. Joint celestial bodies’ exploration missions can be undertaken in research and development.

Apart from this, shipbuilding in the Arctic region, coupled with the formulation of a new maritime trade route, can be explored.

The content creation economy of India is massive and is growing rapidly, especially in the fields of lifestyle, health, education, and the financial sector. Both countries, hence, can establish institutional mechanisms to expand their horizons in this new and upcoming sector.

Therefore, one thing is very clear — the sky, therefore, is the only limit for the Indo-Russian relationship.

Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India