Russia didn’t support China in UNSC after revocation of Art 370
The 23rd India-Russia summit on December 4-5 is a watershed moment for the two countries’ “special and privileged partnership.” The resilience of the summit mechanism demonstrates the high degree of trust between the two, enabling them to navigate India-Russia relations in an increasingly turbulent world.
The focus of the bilateral partnership is mutually beneficial cooperation. Defense and energy initiatives agreed upon during the previous summits have contributed to India’s national interests. During Op Sindoor in May, the jointly manufactured Su-30MKI aircraft and BrahMos missiles, as well as the S-400 air defense system purchased from Russia in 2018, played a critical role in India’s robust response to cross-border terrorism. Russian-built stealth frigates inducted into the Navy in the western Indian Ocean protect key sea lanes transporting India’s trade through the Suez Canal. AK-203 rifles are being manufactured through a joint venture in Amethi for the Army. The summit is expected to enhance such cooperation.
While the fate of Russian oil exports to India dominates the headlines, the focus will be on energy joint investments, which provides a long-term sustainable framework for strategic cooperation. These include Indian investments in Russia’s oilfields and Russian investments in India’s oil-refining sector. Russia is the only country that has invested with technology in India’s nuclear energy sector after the 2008 Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal. The Kudankulam NPP in Tamil Nadu provides 2000 MW of power to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka and Kerala. The summit is expected to consider the proposal for Russian collaboration in the manufacture of small modular reactors in India.
Two-way trade until March 2025 stood at $68.7 billion, of which Russian oil exports were valued at $63.8 billion. Diversification of bilateral trade is needed to achieve the proposed target of $100 billion by 2030. The negotiation of a Eurasian Economic Union-India Free Trade Agreement, which began in August 2025, and the use of national currencies to finance bilateral trade and investment are two options. A decision to allow a designated Indian commercial bank to operate in Russia along the lines of Russia’s Sberbank, which has been operating in India since 2010, will provide support for bilateral economic relations. This includes integrating opportunities for digital economic cooperation and a future India-Russia digital corridor.
India’s partnership with Russia (and Iran) in connectivity projects in Eurasia is hostage to unilateral western sanctions on Russia, Iran and some Indian entities. This has prevented connectivity to boost economic relations.
At the same time, the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor has become functional, providing another connectivity route linking India to Russia’s Far East and the Arctic. Maritime cooperation has become a new dimension of India-Russia strategic partnership. President Putin was the only P5 leader who attended the online UNSC meeting on maritime security chaired by PM Modi in August 2021. In November 2025, connectivity, skill development, shipbuilding and the blue economy were identified as priorities for cooperation.
The number of Indians studying medicine in Russia has grown from 19,700 in 2019 to over 31,000 in 2024. The two sides are negotiating a labor mobility agreement for the employment of Indian workers in Russia. A holistic framework for educational, cultural, tourism and youth cooperation, proposed in 2020 as the Ganga-Volga Dialogue initiative, needs to be revived.
Russia has endorsed India becoming a permanent member of a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC). This requires an amendment of the UN Charter, overcoming the veto power of the P5, to make the UN more effective and meet India’s call for “reformed multilateralism”.
Until that happens, Russia’s strategic partnership with India would play a role in safeguarding India’s core interests. This was evident in August 2019 after the revocation of Article 370, when Russia did not support China’s attempt to revive the “India-Pak Question” in the UNSC.
Putin proposed the “indivisible security” of Eurasia in June 2024 as the fulcrum of a multipolar world order. Today, as the US and China are forging a “spheres-of-influence” based G-2, engaging with Russia on how to sustain indivisible security in a multipolar Asia should be a priority for India.
(Asoke Mukerji is a retired Indian diplomat)
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