Russian President Vladimir Putin is due in New Delhi for a two-day visit to attend the 23rd annual India-Russia summit, marking his first trip to India since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The visit underscores a partnership that has endured nearly eight decades of global upheaval.
India and Russia say they want to deepen their “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” and to exchange views on regional and global issues, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs. Kremlin chief of staff Dmitry Peskov has stressed the need to protect bilateral trade from external pressure and flagged talks on alternative payment mechanisms to help bypass Western sanctions. His remarks come as India faces US tariffs linked to its purchases of Russian oil and as Russia contends with an expanding range of Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Agenda items include energy and defense cooperation, labor mobility, and technology. Peskov noted discussions on defense contracts — including S-400 air defense systems, Sukhoi-57 fighter jets, and small modular nuclear reactors — and on increasing numbers of Indians seeking work in Russia. India remains the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons and now sources over 35% of its crude oil from Russia, up from about 2% before the Ukraine war. Still, US measures targeting entities that trade with Russian oil producers have encouraged some Indian refiners to diversify suppliers, maritime intelligence firm Kpler says.
Resilience of ties
Analysts and diplomats say India-Russia ties have so far shown resilience to Western pressure. Rajan Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University says Putin’s visit signals to the West that Russia is not isolated and that India values the relationship for balancing ties with both the West and China. He argues that policies from the Trump administration widened a trust deficit with the US, increasing Moscow’s relative importance to New Delhi. Moscow, despite close ties with Beijing, is wary of China’s rising influence and has sought to draw India into Eurasian forums like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.
Russia’s willingness to offer cooperation without conditions on domestic governance also appeals to India. Observers say Putin’s visit will reinforce a partnership built on converging interests, historical trust and shared strategic calculations.
Historical roots
India and Russia’s relationship dates to the early years after India’s 1947 independence. The Soviet Union backed India’s industrialization and provided diplomatic support in disputes with Pakistan. In 1971, Moscow sided with India in the war with Pakistan, while the US and China supported Islamabad. India began procuring Soviet military hardware and later produced some systems under license.
Close defense ties persisted after the Cold War. In the economically strained 1990s, Russia helped India develop missiles and fighter jets and supported projects such as India’s nuclear-powered submarine program. The two countries signed a space cooperation agreement in 2002 and continued to expand cooperation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, including deals on nuclear energy and uranium. When the Ukraine war erupted in 2022, New Delhi sought to avoid alienating either Russia or the West, calling for an end to the conflict without explicitly condemning Moscow.
Strategic autonomy
Analysts frame India’s approach as one of strategic autonomy: maintaining substantial ties with both Moscow and Washington to advance national interests. Harsh Pant of the Observer Research Foundation says India values its defense and energy links with Russia enough to resist US pressure to cut ties, particularly given the unpredictability of US policy. This balancing act lets India sustain cooperation with Russia while managing a growing strategic partnership with the US.
Balancing Moscow and Washington
Putin’s visit will offer clues about how New Delhi navigates shifting global power dynamics. Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal says India sees strategic partnerships as non-zero-sum and rejects external dictates on its foreign policy. New Delhi is negotiating a trade deal with Washington and pursuing a roughly $1 billion deal between US-based GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for jet engines for India’s Tejas fighter, signaling deepening US-India defense ties. Still, India is prepared to host Putin and maintain strong relations with Moscow.
Former ambassador D Bala Venkatesh Varma notes the large capital of trust accumulated between India and Russia over decades, which now helps both countries face geopolitical pressures from the US and China. India’s strategy, he says, will likely involve reinvesting in the bilateral strategic partnership while navigating other global partnerships.
Putin’s visit therefore highlights New Delhi’s effort to preserve strategic autonomy: accommodating useful cooperation with the US and other partners while resisting pressure to abandon longstanding ties with Russia.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic