As expected, there were no big-ticket public announcements on defence and energy after the parleys between India and Russia in New Delhi during the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.
On Friday, the joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi contained no such grand announcements, but allusions were there to the sensitive domains, while the headlines focused on agreements in the maritime and labour mobility domains.
Putin’s high-profile visit to India had raised expectations of the inking of pacts that would have enhanced collaboration between India and Russia in the sensitive domains of defence and energy supplies. They would have still taken place, but they remain cloaked under the hidden folds of diplomacy.
While the visit remained very strong on optics, a keyword used in the joint statement was ‘strategic convergence’, which was to underline the fact that Russia’s proximity to India remains despite increasing US pressure on India to side with the US-led West in the ongoing tussle between the rival blocks of the US and Sino-Russian axis for extending their respective spheres of Influence.
At the same time, it was a powerful depiction of walking the talk on India’s policy of strategic autonomy.
The statement read: “…India-Russia ties have remained resilient in the backdrop of the prevailing complex, challenging and uncertain geopolitical situation. Both Sides have strived to forge a contemporary, balanced, mutually beneficial, sustainable and long-term partnership”.
A standout pact was that on the maritime sector with the two sides agreeing “to deepen cooperation in building stable and efficient transport corridors, with the focus on expanding logistics links for improving connectivity and enhancing infrastructure capacity to support the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chennai–Vladivostok (Eastern Maritime) Corridor, and the Northern Sea Route”.
A key facet is the understanding to train specialists for ships operating in polar waters.
Emphasizing on addressing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, removing bottlenecks in logistics, and promoting connectivity, the two countries agreed on the revised bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2030 while continuing to “jointly develop systems of bilateral settlements through use of the national currencies”.
On the counterterror front, the two sides condemned the terrorist attacks in India in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, and in Russia at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22, 2024.
A key point was the fixing of the primary responsibility of the host states in combating terrorism.