Scheduled for early December this year, the 32nd Russia-India bilateral summit is designed to confirm the particularly privileged status of the 25-year strategic partnership between the two influential global powers.
Moscow and New Delhi are interested in strengthening the role of Global South countries and international security in world affairs based on promoting the principles of a truly just, democratic, and equitable multipolar world order.
The regular nature of bilateral summits between the two countries demonstrates the unwavering desire of the leaders of Russia and India to deepen their unique, multifaceted cooperation, which increasingly has a significant stabilizing effect on the world, especially given the aggravated geopolitical situation.
Dialogue based on mutual trust
Despite the West’s increased attempts to drive a wedge into Russia-India relations by strengthening its ties with India and taking steps to diminish Russian influence there, as well as the Euro-Atlanticists’ efforts to hinder the development of trilateral cooperation between Russia, India, and China, Moscow and New Delhi continue to deepen their long-standing, trusting, and mutually beneficial cooperation. This dynamically developing dialogue, based, first and foremost, on mutual trust, respect, and understanding, has repeatedly passed the test of time and is generally not subject to market fluctuations.
Russia respects India’s commitment to pursuing an independent foreign policy and understands its multifaceted nature, including the justified desire of Indian leaders to strengthen ties with the United States and the West as a whole. Russia welcomes India’s efforts to expand its presence in Europe, Asia, the Far East, Africa, and Latin America. Moscow’s sober and calm perception of New Delhi’s successful foreign policy efforts only strengthens its trust in Russia as a reliable partner that adequately understands Indian national interests and priorities.
Mutual respect and a realistic nature underpin trusting Russia-India relations. In turn, the leaders of India are sympathetic to Russia’s efforts to resolve the difficult situation around Ukraine, as well as our dialogue on this and other matters with Washington.
The strategic Russia-India-China triangle dynamically moves ahead
New Delhi also appreciates Moscow’s sincere desire to encourage India and China to resolve existing bilateral problems, normalize fully, and improve relations. Taking into account the difficult nature of the India-China dialogue, the persistence of distrust, and elements of rivalry, Moscow does not force cooperation within the framework of the Russia-India-China triangle, though it does not hide its desire to keep using this format in the future both in the interests of its participants and a positive impact on the global situation.
At the same time, Russia greatly values its close strategic partnership relations with both global powers and would prefer the complete absence of misunderstanding and jealousy in its closest partners. Russia is not interested in and does not intend to strengthen its partnership with both China and India to the detriment of a third party. For us, both of our partners are equally important and a priority. Russia is determined to increase its multifaceted cooperation with both Beijing and New Delhi, considering them its closest and most reliable partners. Currently, Russian-Chinese relations are deeper than Russian-Indian relations in scale and diversity, but until the beginning of this century, the situation was the opposite, and it was New Delhi, not Beijing, that was Russia’s dominant partner in Asia.
A distinctive feature of cooperation between the Soviet Union and Russia with India has been the absence of any discrepancies and problematic issues, the constant presence of common interests and approaches to global and regional affairs. From the very beginning, relations have acquired a truly popular and stable character, and our states have never let each other down, showing solidarity and mutual assistance in a number of difficult situations.
The uniqueness of these relations is evident in many areas of cooperation. Having grown to the status of a particularly privileged strategic partnership and being accompanied by common interests and approaches, these relations are based on more than just successful trade, economic, scientific, military, technical, and humanitarian cooperation.
India remains one of Russia’s main trade partners
The trade turnover, which had been idle for decades, totaling from $4 to $8 billion, went up sharply starting in 2022, reaching a record $70 billion in 2025. It is noteworthy that the impetus for a sharp increase in trade was the supply of Russian oil to India at a significant discount, the share of which in the total imports of the country in 2025 began to reach 35-40%. By purchasing up to 60-70 million tons annually (previously the volume did not exceed 2-4 million tons), India has become not only the largest importer of Russian oil, but also its largest refiner, supplying large quantities of petroleum products primarily to the European Union and making a decent profit. In addition to crude oil, India also buys petroleum products from Russia, the volume of which, however, is only about 6 million tons. Nevertheless, these unprecedentedly large supplies of Russian oil evoked serious concern in Washington, which demanded these purchases be reduced and even stopped. In attempting to exert direct pressure on India, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on all Indian imports to the United States. When this extreme measure did not work on the independent Indian leadership, Washington imposed harsh sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil. These companies are now expecting a significant reduction in Russian oil supplies to India.
This fact worries Indians who do not want to be caught in confrontation with the Americans. But they also do not intend to lose the cheap Russian oil market.
President Putin’s visit to India will be his first since the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, giving it symbolic significance.
New Delhi is also concerned about the large trade imbalance with Russia caused by the sharp increase in purchases of Russian oil (with a turnover of about $70 billion, Indian exports amount to only about $4 billion). It goes without saying that all of these problematic issues were discussed during Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow and will, of course, be raised directly during the December summit.
Documents are being prepared for the summit, which will cover, in addition to trade and economic relations, issues of developing military and technical, scientific, nuclear, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation. In short, the next Russian-Indian summit is intended to become an important milestone in further strengthening the particularly privileged strategic partnership between two major global partners.
Anvar Azimov, diplomat and political scientist, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Research Fellow at Eurasian Studies Institute of MGIMO University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
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