Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited India after four years, has returned to Moscow with a message of further strengthening bilateral relations in the coming days. The visit, which was widely publicized by India, did not produce any significant agreements. It was agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.

For this, a plan has been put forward to diversify trade with arms and petrol and to maintain a trade balance by reversing the situation where Russia is the supplier and India is the buyer. However, both sides have not made the necessary preparations for its concrete implementation.

Bilateral trade between Russia and India reached a record high of $68.7 billion in 2024-25. Of this, Russia's exports are more than $63 billion, while India's exports are less than $5 billion. Representatives of both countries have recently held talks to reduce this imbalance. For that, Russia has also shown its willingness to purchase rice, sea passenger ships and products from India. Similarly, an agreement has been reached to diversify economic relations, which have so far been dominated by defense equipment and oil trade.

Harsh V. Pant, a visiting professor at King's College London, says that the essence of this visit is more symbolic than real. “Despite discussions on various issues between the two countries, there have been no significant new agreements in defense equipment and other areas of trade,” he writes in the Times Magazine. “At a time when relations with the United States are deteriorating, New Delhi has demonstrated strategic independence to the world by hugging its old friend.”

He says that this is the message of Narendra Modi breaking ‘protocol’ and hugging Putin at the airport on Thursday. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the United States has been pressuring India to reduce its consumption of Russian fuel. But India has been getting Russian gasoline at a discount and has increased its oil purchases. Today, almost 40 percent of India’s oil comes from Russia. This amount has helped Russia fight the war against Ukraine. That is why US President Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro has even called this war ‘Modi’s war’. 

The distance between India and the US has been further worsened by US President Trump’s trivial statements and warning language in recent times. On the other hand, Russia is also reluctant to accept the US proposal for peace talks with Ukraine. Russia's condition in the peace talks is that 'Ukraine must give up its claims to the territories it lost in the war.' In other words, Russia believes that it has the upper hand in the war. On the other hand, by warmly welcoming Russia, New Delhi has given a clear message to the world that it is not neutral in the war against Ukraine, which it has shown in the past as well. 

Putin has promised uninterrupted fuel supplies to keep the Indian economy running. Everyone has seen the fact that trade between the two countries has recently increased to around $68 billion due to petrol. Despite this, both have reflected on the fact that traditional defense relations and the recent skyrocketing oil trade alone cannot form the basis of future bilateral relations. The two countries have discussed energy, defense, civil aviation, important minerals and investment projects. India is seeking greater access to the Russian market for pharmaceuticals, machinery and agricultural products. Both Modi and Putin have conveyed the message of continuing investment in each other's countries. 

At the 23rd Russia-India annual meeting on Friday, Modi said, "Taking economic cooperation to new heights is our common priority. To make this a reality, we have agreed on an economic partnership program until 2030. This will make our trade and investment diversified, balanced and sustainable." He said that increasing 'connectivity' between the two countries is a common priority. Similarly, he said that there will be cooperation in renewable energy, high-level technology, industry and other areas.

Russian President Putin said that he has regular talks with Modi. "We are constantly talking on the telephone on many important issues. Russia-India relations are very strong. Our mutual relations are multifaceted," he said, "Our trade is conducted in rubles and rupees. We will support the Make in India program." Putin also said that a 'flagship project' will be launched in cooperation between Russia and India to build the largest nuclear power plant.

Relations since independence

India has had cordial relations with Russia since its independence. India's relations with the Western world, especially Britain, were not good in the 1950s after it gained independence in 1947 after fighting against British colonialism.

It extended its hand of cooperation to another world power, the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union also openly supported India's infrastructure and industrial development in the early days. Large public enterprises were established in the steel, mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. India's five-year plan-based economic model was also inspired by the Soviet Union.

After losing the war with China in 1962, India emphasized the modernization of its military. At that time, the US and Western countries were reluctant to provide modern fighter aircraft and defense equipment. The Soviet Union provided India with the supersonic fighter aircraft 'MiG-21', which played a major role in the offensive capabilities of the Indian Air Force for many decades. Geopolitical tensions with Pakistan also brought the Soviets and India closer.

On 9 August 1971, India and the Soviet Union signed the Indo-Soviet Pact (Peace, Development and Cooperation). During this period, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was fighting for independence. After India supported the pro-independence Mukti Bahini in this struggle, Pakistan attacked India.

When the formal war between India and Pakistan began in December, Pakistan was indirectly supported by Western countries including the US and Britain. The Soviet Union also indirectly provided political and military support to India.

During the war, the Soviet Union deployed fighter jets, cruisers and nuclear-armed submarines as power struggles raged in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. After Pakistan surrendered on 16 December, Bangladesh became independent. India fully supported the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. During this period, the Soviet Union also played a major role in India's industrial development. Similarly, it supported India on the Kashmir issue on the global stage.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and India's emergence as a major global economy have redefined the relationship between the two countries. However, the trade and security ties between the two countries remain the same. India is still Russia's largest buyer of defence equipment.

Russia has leased nuclear submarines to India. The two countries jointly produced the 'Brahmos' missile - the first example of joint production in the defence sector. India bought the state-of-the-art 'Sukhoi-30 MKI' fighter jet from Russia in the 1990s.

The Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014, bringing a change in defence policy. In line with its decision to diversify defence supplies, India started buying weapons from the US, France and Israel in addition to Russia. During the Soviet era, India had to source 80 per cent of its military equipment from Russia, which has now come down to around 36 per cent.