Unlike the US and the West, Russia does not have a relationship with India merely based on transactional exchange of goods or commodities. Instead, it is based on deep mutual understanding and trust, which have helped the two countries in navigating ups and downs of international geopolitics for decades.

When the US, under the Donald Trump administration, imposed discriminatory steep 50% tariffs on India for purchasing oil from Russia, New Delhi, instead of buckling under pressure, sided more strongly with Moscow.

It can be seen in India’s continued purchase of oil from Russia. Yet, cause of heartburns among western leaders would not be India’s willingness to maintain autonomy in its foreign policy approach; rather New Delhi’s decision to give a grand welcome to Russian president Vladimir Putin during his visit for the 23rd annual India-Russia summit.

For the first time an Indian prime minister went to the airport to welcome the Russian president. Yet what was the most significant in terms of optics was both PM Narendra Modi and president Putin travelled together -- from the airport to the PM’s official residence in New Delhi -- in a vehicle that was non-US and non-Europe in the making.

The symbolism was unmistakably present in the move; it signalled clearly that both New Delhi and Moscow were keen to work together, free from the pulls and pressure of the US and Europe. It was a “very conscious, thought-out gesture with geopolitical intent,” former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said. In December 2021, Putin had last visited India. It was also his first ever visit to the South Asian country after the Ukraine war in 2022.

Broadening of economic engagement
Invariably, depth of friendship, warmth of camaraderie and firmness of strategic intent were on full display when the two leaders, amid rapid shift in global alignments, decided to give thrust to their bilateral engagement.

In this context, both leaders announced the elevation of their ongoing economic cooperation to new heights with both sides committing to achieve a $100 billion target in bilateral trade well before 2030.

However, since the objective is to broaden the basket of trade, both sides announced an Economic Cooperation Program until 2030. “This will make our trade and investment more diversified, balanced, and sustainable; and will also add new dimensions to our areas of cooperation,” Modi said in his statement during a joint press conference on Friday.

This reflected India’s intent to give a meaningful push to the partnership wherein bilateral trade has been usually around few commodities including oil and gas. Since the aim is to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, India, first of all, called for an urgent requirement for immediate removal of non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments.

Then it drew Moscow’s attention towards the need of correcting imbalance in the two-way trade. In 2024-25, bilateral trade between India and Russia reached a record high of $68.7 billion. While India’s exports to Russia were $4.9 billion, imports were as high as $63.8 billion—heavily skewed in favour of Moscow.

“Enhancing Indian exports to Russia in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, marine products, and textiles is important to correct the trade imbalance. Each one of these sectors, in considerable detail, was discussed between the two leaders today, with both of them pointing to the opportunities that existed in these areas,” foreign secretary Vikram Misri said in a special briefing on the Russian president’s visit.

However, amid this, what would turn out to be a major initiative towards strengthening economic ties was their decision to continue bilateral trade through Rupee-Ruble mechanism. Additionally, they agreed to continue “their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.

As India has been making a sincere effort to diversify its exports, given the steep tariff from the US, New Delhi has been exploring a free trade agreement with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.

“The Leaders appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a Free Trade Agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union covering sectors of mutual interest. They also directed both Sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investments,” the India-Russia joint statement issued following the 23rd annual summit said.

Besides, the two leaders held discussions on mobility and migration of skilled people. “They form a centerpiece of the understandings reached during the ongoing visit. Indian skilled workers, especially in IT, in construction, and in engineering, will help meet Russia's labour needs and deepen our bilateral cooperation. In fact, there is increasing interest among Russian businesses and industries to hire skilled manpower from India to support growing economic activities in Russia,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

Defence cooperation
Even though no significant agreement or announcement was made in the field of defence because of possible noise it would create in the western world and China, both India and Russia decided to enhance their military ties through the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) route. Established in 2000, it oversees the entire spectrum of military-technical collaboration between the two countries.

On December 24, ahead of the annual summit between Modi and Putin, India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh co-chaired the 22nd session of IRIGC-M&MTC at Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.

At the meeting, as per the statement from the ministry of defence, India voiced its determination “for capacity building of its indigenous defence industry for both local production and exports, under the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).” In that meeting, emphasis was also laid on exploring opportunities for enhancing collaboration across niche technologies. Broadly speaking, joint research and development, co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems have been the thrust of India-Russia cooperation in defence.

India wants Russia to deliver the rest of the two squadrons of S-400 missile systems. India plans to acquire another five squadrons of S-400 missile systems and is also interested in S-500 platforms. To upgrade Sukhoi-30 MKI jet fleet and enhance its lethal capabilities, India wants Russia to supply R-37 and RVV-BD air-to-air missiles. While it is keen for joint production of an advanced version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

“Both Sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India program through transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian Armed Forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries,” said the India-Russia joint statement.

Energy cooperation
Since energy forms an important pillar of the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership, the two countries discussed ongoing cooperation between their companies in the field of oil and oil products, oil refining and petrochemical technologies, oilfield services, and upstream technologies.

Emphasis was placed on development of LNG and LPG related infrastructure and cooperation in various existing projects lying in their respective countries, including underground coal gasification (UCG) technology and nuclear projects.

Both sides also agreed to resolve challenges faced by their investors in the oil and gas field. For instance, India’s state-backed ONGC Videsh (OVL) has been raising concerns about not receiving equity oil for its 20% stake in Rosneft’s Sakhalin-1 project. Besides, Indian companies are facing difficulty in repatriating dividends from their Russia-based oil and gas assets.

“They also noted the importance of expeditious resolution of issues related to investment projects in this area, and agreed to resolve the various concerns being faced by their investors in the energy sector,” according to the India-Russia joint statement.

Nuclear and space cooperation
The two countries agreed to broaden the area of cooperation in nuclear energy, including fuel cycle, life cycle support for operating Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) and non-power applications, as well as to elaborate new agenda of interaction in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy and related high technologies.

India aims to increase its nuclear energy capacity to 100 GW by 2047. “The Sides welcomed the progress achieved in implementation of KKNPP including the construction of the remaining NPP (nuclear power plant) units and agreed on adhering to the timeline for supplies of equipment and fuel,” the joint statement stated. The two countries also discussed issues related to design, research and joint development of nuclear power plants, localisation, joint manufacturing of nuclear equipment and fuel assemblies for Russian designed large capacity nuclear power plants.

Earlier, giving details on India-Russia collaboration in the nuclear sector, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “Work is currently underway on Units 3 to 6 (of KKNPP), where, in fact, a number of the critical shipments with regard to Units 3 and 4 are underway. And work to conclude agreements for similar things with respect to Units 5 and 6 is already also proceeding in parallel.”

In the area of space, the two countries, as per the joint statement, welcomed the enhanced partnership between the ISRO and the Russian State Space Cooperation ‘Roscosmos’ in the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, including human spaceflight programmes, satellite navigation, and planetary exploration.

Conclusion
In the course of two-day visit of the Russian president, the two countries signed as many as 16 agreements, including maritime cooperation which particularly envisages training of Indian seafarers in polar waters through programmes designed and facilitated by Russian agencies.

Apart from these agreements, five announcements were also made, which included granting of a 30-day e-tourist visa on gratis basis to Russian nationals on reciprocal basis.

Still, what remained significant in terms of imparting vigour to bilateral ties between the two countries were their commitment to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of combating such common challenges and threats such as terrorism, extremism, transnational organized crime, money laundering, terrorist financing, and illicit drug trafficking.

They also agreed to further deepen their cooperation at the UN and stressed the importance of reinvigorating multilateralism, with a central coordinating role played by the UN. They also underlined the primacy of respect for international law and emphasized their commitment to the purposes and the principles of the UN Charter.