Putin reveals Moscow’s role in ensuring India’s security

Russia and India have a “unique relationship” characterized by its high quality and level of trust, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. He underscored that the two countries are expanding cooperation in many areas – from energy and defense to fertilizers and technology. 

Addressing delegates at the Valdai international forum in Sochi, Putin noted: “As we understand and feel, there exists a national consensus among our Indian friends regarding the development of relations with Russia, with our country.” 

Commenting on the economic cooperation between the two nations, Putin stressed that decades-old cooperation in the military-technical field is evolving today. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia remains the largest defense supplier to India, even though the South Asian nation has been diversifying its sources of military imports and technological partnerships in recent years.  

“Look at how much Russian equipment is in the armament of the Indian army. We are indeed evolving here with a significant level of mutual trust,” Putin said. 

“We are not just selling our weapons to India; we are also collaborating on their development. The BrahMos system is well known. We have made it practically usable in three domains: air, sea, and land. These developments aimed at ensuring India’s security continue. This is widely recognized and does not raise any questions or irritations; it reflects the high level of our trust and cooperation. We will continue to do this in the near historical future, and I hope, in the future as well,” the president asserted. 

BrahMos missiles, co-developed by India and Russia, have emerged as a mainstay in the Indian armed forces, as well as a key military export item for New Delhi. Early this year, a batch of the missiles worth $375 million was supplied to the Philippines. Other nations – including Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia – have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the supersonic cruise missiles. 

Putin also noted that Moscow considers India an important market for the energy trade. While Russia’s crude oil exports to India have surged over 20-fold since 2022, the country is also exploring opportunities to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the South Asian nation, the president noted. Russia is also New Delhi’s only foreign partner in building nuclear power plants in India. 

The Russian leader hailed the ‘Make in India’ initiative promoted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost domestic manufacturing across sectors and said Moscow was ready to invest in such projects.

“In the energy sector, one of the largest foreign investments in India —$20 billion—is a Russian investment. We are ready to continue developing this in the same vein,” the president said, referring to the 2017 deal that saw the Russian oil giant Rosneft-led consortium acquire India’s second-largest oil company Essar, which owns a large refining complex, captive power plant, and port and terminal facilities in the state of Gujarat. Following the acquisition, the company was rebranded as Nayara Energy.  

Trade turnover between the two countries surpassed a record figure of $60 billion in 2023, a trend that has been maintained in the first nine months of this year. During their bilateral summit in Moscow in July, the Russian and Indian leaders agreed to raise the trade target to $100 billion. Both countries also emphasized the need to resolve issues of their trade imbalance by diversifying trade and increasing Indian exports to Russia.