Reaffirming India-Russia Ties Amid Global Challenges
Dr. Rup Narayan Das
The much awaited summit meeting between Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President of Russia Mr. Vladimir Putin took place in Moscow on July 8 and 9, 2024. The 22nd summit meeting scaled up the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries to greater heights. Notably, Russia stands as one of only two nations, alongside Japan, with which India maintains a framework for annual bilateral summits. Despite recent interactions between the two leaders, this meeting represented their first engagement within the formal context of the annual summit since 2021.
The summit meeting garnered substantial traction and strategic significance on multiple fronts. Firstly, the convergence of these two influential leaders, following their historic electoral victories and consolidation of power in their respective countries, underscored the stability and continuity of bilateral relations. Secondly, this visit marked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's first international engagement since assuming office for the third term, highlighting the strategic importance that India, and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in particular, places on relationship with Russia and President Mr. Vladimir Putin.
Moreover, the timing of this meeting was particularly noteworthy, occurring amidst the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. India's nuanced stance on the Ukraine conflict is well-documented, and the summit provided a platform for further dialogue on this critical issue. Additionally, the summit followed closely on the heels of a meeting between External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Mr. Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana. During this precursor meeting, the top diplomats deliberated on a wide range of issues, setting the stage for the subsequent summit meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin.
Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, India and Russia have maintained regular meetings and interactions through physical, virtual, and telephonic channels at various levels, including between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin. Notably, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's telephone conversations with President Mr. Vladimir Putin in February and March 2022 played a crucial role in facilitating the evacuation of stranded Indian students from Ukraine.
India's reasoned and thoughtful abstention from the US-sponsored UN resolution on the Ukraine crisis, coupled with its balanced stance on the issue, earned the goodwill and appreciation of Russia, underscoring the enduring strategic trust between the two nations. Furthermore, India's well-crafted resolution on Ukraine, adopted at the G-20 summit in New Delhi last September, was positively received by Moscow and other member countries.
The steadfast strategic commitment and time-tested ties between India and Russia were further demonstrated by India's decision to honour the contract to purchase the S-400 defence missile system from Russia, despite US-imposed sanctions. Another example of India's unwavering commitment to Russia is its decision to buy Russian crude oil despite Western sanctions, a move that has also benefited India's economy.
Enduring and Trusted Ties
India and Russia have cultivated a comprehensive and robust strategic partnership over the years, encompassing every facet of their relationship. In the post-independence era, the former Soviet Union played a pivotal role in establishing India's core industries, such as steel, petrochemicals, heavy industries, space, and nuclear energy. In recent years, defence cooperation has emerged as the most significant aspect of their partnership. The two countries have a robust, multi-tiered institutionalised mechanism for regular interaction for deepening long standing defence cooperation. The defence cooperation includes, among others, the
MiG-29 K which is a multirole ship based fighter aircraft. Russia has also upgraded the MiG-29 aircrafts for Indian Air Force. It has also provided the Sukhoi-30 MKIs, and the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, renamed as INS Vikramaditya.
Other key examples of defence collaboration include the joint manufacture of the BrahMos missile and the state-of-the-art AK-203 assault rifle under an India-Russia joint venture. Russia's support is instrumental in helping India achieve its vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and the Make in India initiative.
India and Russia also continue their cooperation in the sphere of civil nuclear energy as a part of the ongoing project at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Construction work continues at Units 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 despite hiccups. Besides, the annual summit level meeting. India and Russia have a number of dialogue mechanisms including the 2+2 dialogue between respective defence and foreign ministers. The leaders of the two countries also meet and interact on the sidelines of fora such as the G-20, BRICS and the SCO. Russia has been extending diplomatic support to India in multilateral bodies including at the United Nations on critical issues. The two countries have joint military exercises. The 21st edition of India-Russia joint naval exercise called 'Indra-Navy' took place in 2021.
Outcome and Achievements
The summit meeting yielded both substantive and symbolic outcomes. Firstly, President Mr. Vladimir Putin honoured Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's request to discharge Indian nationals recruited into the Russian military to serve on the Ukraine war front, a decision that brought immense relief to the families of these recruits. The Indian embassy in Moscow also worked diligently to achieve this outcome. Prior to the summit, External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar had raised the issue with his Russian counterpart Mr. Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the SCO meeting in Astana.
Secondly, the two countries agreed to enhance the bilateral trade between the two countries to $100 billion by 2030 including the use of their national currencies for settling trade payments. The Rupee-Rouble trade has been very useful in augmenting the bilateral trade between the two countries over the years.
Thirdly, as far as connectivity is concerned, the two sides agreed to a cooperation statement on projects in Russia's Far East. Earlier, in September 2021, while addressing the 6th Eastern Economic Forum, Prime Minister Shri Modi had expressed happiness that the connectivity project- the Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor along with the International North-South Corridor would bring India and Russia physically closer. This will help augment President Putin's vision for development of the Russian Far East. In addition, the two countries signed a slew of MoUs between state entities on climate change, polar research, legal arbitration, and pharmaceutical certification and other issues.
Fourthly, addressing Indian diaspora in Russia, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi declared that Russia had acceded to India's proposal to open consulates in Kazan and Yekaternburg to extend consular services to the Indian community. Fifthly, Prime Minister Modi, during the summit meeting also reiterated and articulated India's thoughtful stance with regard to Ukraine reiterating that solution to Ukraine conflict was not possible on the battle field in the midst of bombs and bullets. Yet another highlight of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's successful visit to Moscow was the conferment of Russia's highest national award “The Order of St. Andrews” on the Indian Prime Minister for his contributions in forging India-Russia relations.
(The author is a foreign policy expert and former senior fellow of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and Indian Council of Social Science Research. Feedback on this article can be sent to feedback.employmentnews@gmail.com). Views expressed are personal.