Putin's Visit: Tapping Latent Potential In India-Russia Economic Ties

The India-Russia partnership in the post-Soviet era is a story of an unfilled economic partnership. This is due to multiple factors, including legal framework and rules, bureaucratic inertia, lack of understanding of each other’s markets, and missed opportunities. 

However, a silver lining emerged over the past three years, with a big increase in trade volume. Energy supplies from Russia, which contributed to this trade volume in a big way, have taken a temporary hit, as both sides are working on supplies from non-sanctioned entities.

Amid these developments, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi is set to make the economic and trade partnership the centrepiece of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.

India-Russian Forum 

The India-Russian Forum, coinciding with this visit, which, in turn, focuses on niche sectors that can transform the economic partnership, could not have been better timed. 

Nearly a decade ago, the then Deputy Prime Minister of Russia told a (then) senior Indian Minister that 70% of Russian resources are yet to be explored, and suggested that New Delhi could move in to take advantage of extracting resources that can fuel India’s growth story.

Today in 2025, nothing much has changed, though. 

Russia is sitting on an accumulation of rare earth, critical minerals, and other minerals and energy resources yet to be explored. It is in India’s interests that it should not hand over this pool of resources to China on a platter.

Russia, on its part, is keen to reduce its overdependence on China. A no-limits partnership between Delhi and Moscow is on the horizon for the sake of Eurasian stability and new geo-economic opportunities.

Russia has the natural resources, and India has the demand. Russia has certain technologies, and India has the market and soft power that can lead to a winning formula. It is in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin will push the envelope to create permanent interests and constituencies in both countries. 

Trade Diversification 

Russia, for too long since 1991, concentrated on Europe, while India’s focus shifted towards harnessing the Western markets, particularly the US. But diversification is the mantra for both. 

To begin with, Indian entrepreneurs need to understand the Russian market and conduct an objective study free from biases to explore areas in engineering, automobiles, luxury goods, agriculture, agro-products, gems and jewellery, mines, construction, forest products, and hospitality, to name a few, where they can either launch exports or establish joint ventures either in India or Russia. 

The same is equally true for Russian exporters and investors who must study and explore the Indian market, where there is a big scope for expanding their presence, taking advantage of the demands, goodwill, and scale and abundance of manpower. 

Natural Resources

Big opportunities exist in the Russian Far East and Arctic regions, where the Chinese have already made inroads to capture natural resources to fuel their growth. India is lagging despite the political will from the highest level of leadership. Indian investors and entrepreneurs were cautious even before the Ukraine war started, and sanctions were imposed on Russia. 

Indian investors should try to study models and sectors, many of which are not under sanctions, and establish their presence. This would enable New Delhi to balance the Chinese economic presence and provide Moscow with opportunities.

Contributing to the emerging economic partnership story will be the mobility pact that is likely to be signed at the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. The Indian workforce has been increasing steadily in Russia over the past two years, though this has not caught the public glare. 

Millions of Indians would have another opportunity to seek employment and contribute to remittances and India's growth story, while enabling the Russian economy to grow. The presence of the Indian diaspora in Russia will eventually help in furthering the partnership between the two Eurasian giants. 

(The writer is a commentator on geopolitics. Views are personal.)