Choosing New Delhi as the destination shows that Moscow wants to strengthen its “sustainable and non-Western” partners, while reaffirming India’s role in Russia’s long-term strategic calculations.
After careful preparation, both Moscow and New Delhi have confirmed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to India from December 4–5 to attend the 23rd annual India–Russia Summit, at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the visit, the Russian leader will hold talks with Prime Minister Modi. He will also have a separate meeting with Indian President Droupadi Murmu.
According to the announcement from New Delhi, the India–Russia Summit is an opportunity for the two sides to review the progress of cooperation, set out directions for strengthening the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries, and discuss other regional and global issues.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin emphasised that President Putin’s visit to India will address key areas in the Russia–India partnership, from politics, trade, economics, to scientific and technical cooperation, culture, and humanitarian. Moscow also noted that the talks will focus on current international and regional issues.
The significance of the trip is being highly emphasised, as in the official statement, Moscow clearly stated that the visit is of great importance for both countries, especially taking place in the context of the continued strengthening of Russia–India bilateral relations, even after the US warned that the South Asian country would continue to face huge tariffs if it continued to buy Russian oil.
After nearly four years of pressure from sanctions and isolation from the West due to the conflict with Ukraine, Moscow is still trying to find and maintain sustainable strategic footholds, in which New Delhi is considered one of the key partners.
With India, besides emphasising its readiness to strengthen cooperation with US and Western partners, including through the QUAD, New Delhi still maintains a special and privileged strategic partnership with Moscow. Pursuing the “strategic autonomy” policy, India highly values Moscow as an important partner to help ensure security, energy and maintain foreign stability.
With a solid foundation from the former Soviet Union, Russia-India relations have spread across the fields of trade, investment, defense, and energy. That is why, despite facing many pressures, Moscow is still one of the key defense suppliers to New Delhi, while India remains one of Russia’s largest oil customers.
Returning to New Delhi next week, the Russian President will make his first visit to India since the Russia–Ukraine conflict broke out in early 2022, signaling Moscow’s desire to strongly re-establish its national position in South Asia and the Indian Ocean space.
Facing pressure from the West, the decision to visit India affirms that Russia is not isolated and still has plenty of space to adjust its strategy and maintain its influence. Moreover, the Russian leader's visit to India also affirms Moscow’s efforts to diversify its partners, avoiding over-dependence on any other partner.
As for India, maintaining and promoting relations with Russia contributes to ensuring national security and defense, stabilising energy supplies, as cheap oil from Russia helps India control inflation and maintain growth in difficult times.
Not to mention, maintaining good relations with Russia also helps India maintain “leverage” in negotiations on trade, technology, and defence cooperation issues with other partners. India’s middle position allows New Delhi to take the initiative in major decisions and to have a “non-biased” position in the context of global strategic competition.
Clearly, both Russia and India have strong incentives to maintain their partnership. Russia needs India for long-term strategic goals, while New Delhi needs Moscow for security, energy, and diplomatic autonomy.
The Russian President’s visit to India is therefore not only a bilateral visit, but also a reminder that, in a fragmented world, middle-sized countries like India can absolutely become “balancers” between the poles of power.
In the face of external pressure and instability, long-term relationships based on common interests are still capable of overcoming storms and opening up new structures of cooperation in the Eurasian region.
