With a surprise airport welcome, a warm hug on the tarmac, a shared car ride and a private dinner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonstrated to the visiting Russian president, Vladimir Putin, that New Delhi remains wedded to its warm historical relationship with Moscow. The visuals of the bonhomie between the two leaders were matched by their public statements on Friday in a way that was clearly intended for more than Indian and Russian audiences. At a time when Mr Putin is under pressure from the United States of America and the West to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine, and India has been slapped with tariffs for continuing to buy Russian oil, the two leaders made it clear that neither side is willing to give up on the time-tested friendship between the two nations. While their summit was heavy on talk and thinner on the actual outcomes, it could pave the way for more substantive deals in the coming weeks and months.
The fact of Mr Putin’s visit was itself significant: this was his first trip to India since the start of Russia’s full-fledged war on Ukraine in 2022. Over the past three years, not only has he not visited India for bilateral meetings but also skipped the G20 Summit in 2023 after Western leaders made it clear that they would not be comfortable sharing a conference room with him. For two years, India and Russia suspended their practice of annual summits before Mr Modi travelled to Moscow last year. The timing of
Mr Putin’s visit makes it even more critical: Indian oil majors like Reliance have cut down imports of Russian oil after US sanctions on Russia’s two biggest crude producers. That is expected to dent India-Russia bilateral trade, which was at an all-time high after India’s record-breaking purchase of Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine. Both the oil trade and the broader economic relationship between India and Russia are therefore under stress.
But Mr Putin’s declaration, standing next to Mr Modi, that Russia will ensure uninterrupted oil supply to India, suggests that the two countries are devising a strategy to keep the crude flowing despite the sanctions. Two labour agreements signed during the summit could create safe pathways for Indians to work in Russia, which is suffering from a manpower shortage. These deals could also safeguard Indians from getting trapped by scammers as a result of which they have been forced to fight with the Russian army against Ukraine. While no defence deals were announced, India is known to be discussing the purchase of additional S-400 missile defence systems, which were a pivotal part of the country’s defensive shield during the four-day conflict with Pakistan in May. The past few months of geopolitical turbulence have only reinforced to both India and Russia that they need each other. Decades of trust are an invaluable insurance against instability. That, above all, was the takeaway from Mr Putin’s short visit.