Moscow, Dec. 23: Standing next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi last December, industrialist Shashi Ruia signed a pact with Russian oil firm Rosneft that was meant to symbolise a new era in bilateral economic relations.

For years, India and Russia - despite their all-weather friendship - had struggled to translate those ties into hard monetary gains for the two nations: New Delhi's trade with Seoul was higher than with Moscow. Now, for the first time, private deals were being struck in front of leaders from the two countries, who egged on the signatories with claps.

But a year later, when Modi and Putin meet for official diplomatic talks tomorrow morning on the second day of the Prime Minister's trip to Moscow, they will confront trade figures even worse than last year. Even the extremely modest target of $30 billion bilateral trade by 2025, set by Modi and Putin last year and up from the $9 billion at present, appears optimistic. India and the US already trade at close to $100 billion a year.

A combination of ignorance, impediments to business travel, connectivity challenges and inadequate interest by the private sector in both countries continues to hobble the economic component of a relationship Modi and Putin have both described as vital.

The Indian Prime Minister and the Russian President meet each winter for an annual summit that New Delhi hosts only with Moscow and much more recently, with Tokyo. But in the first six months of this financial year, India did more business with Vietnam than with Russia.

"Lack of information and exposure to each other remains a major contributor to this problem," former Indian ambassador to Russia, Ajai Malhotra, told The Telegraph. "Inadequate entrepreneurial spirit, on both sides, hasn't helped. Business persons must also more actively venture beyond the national and commercial capitals of both countries."

Modi landed in Moscow this evening and, after a quick rest at his hotel - the Carlton Ritz, just next to Red Square - met Putin for a chat at the Kremlin, and a dinner at his country estate, known as Novo Ogaryovo, 30km outside Moscow.

Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will begin by visiting a disaster management centre in Moscow, before laying a wreath at a memorial to the Unknown Soldier - Russia's tribute to its World War II briefings.

Modi will then hold formal bilateral talks with Putin and address a gathering of the Indian diaspora where local artistes will perform a musical rendition of a poem by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

But the deep economic challenges that stare the relationship will peep out from behind the veil of warmth and camaraderie at a meeting Modi and Putin will hold with some of the top industrialists from the two nations tomorrow. Mukesh Ambani, Cyrus Mistry, Anil Ambani and Baba Kalyani are among the Indian business leaders in Moscow for the meet.

In 2008, India and Russia had set up a CEOs' forum for captains of industry from the two nations to discuss possible collaboration projects that would inject a private sector dose to en economic relationship traditionally dominated by government-to-government deals. But the Mukesh Ambani co-chaired group did not meet regularly and eventually had to be rejigged by a frustrated Indian foreign office which demanded a change from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Russian businesses unfortunately still see India as a land of elephants where you can sometimes sell a few helicopters," Sergei Strokan, a Moscow-based political commentator with Kommersant publishing house said. "And many from India still see Russia as a petrol station."

Oil and natural gas remains a cornerstone of Indian investments and trade with Russia. India gains more oil and gas from its investments in Russia than from any other country. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) last year procured 30 per cent of its crude and gas from Russia.

But most Indian refineries are built for a grade of oil available in West Asia and Africa, but not in Russia, limiting the extent of possible trade in this sector between the nations.

Some tie-ups in this sector, while beneficial to the companies involved, don't deal with Russian oil and gas at all. Essar's deal with Rosneft, for instance, essentially involves the Indian firm purchasing Venezuelan oil from a field controlled by the Russian giant.

Long-gestation projects, like military deals and nuclear reactors, where Russia specialises, don't regularly add to trade figures. "We forget the relationship for a year, then remember it when the summit is around the corner," Strokan, the observer, said.

Long-pending connectivity projects, like the International North South Transport Corridor that will connect the Bandar Abbas port in Iran to cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, remain incomplete two decades after it was initiated.

"One shouldn't expect that trade will suddenly zoom. And trade statistics don't necessarily reveal the entire scope of an economic partnership," ex-envoy Malhotra said.

Some sectors, like India's diamond industry, have benefited over the past year. A decision taken during Putin's 2014 visit to New Delhi for direct diamond trade has marginally cut costs for traders who till now needed to send diamonds to Russia through Rotterdam and Antwerp.

But obtaining Russian business visas remains a challenge for Indians. "Russia must adopt simplified and less time-consuming procedures for issuing business visas and implement a single-window customs clearance procedure," Malhotra said.

At stake is the relevance of a relationship the two countries have decided to call a "special and privileged strategic partnership". "Those words are meaningless if you have such tiny trade," Ashok Sajjanhar, a former diplomat and keen observer of the India-Russia relationship said. "This is a critical partnership, but it needs economic meat. Desperately."