New Delhi Summit Signals Deeper India–Russia Partnership as Putin Concludes Two-Day Visit

Overview

• Vladimir Putin completed a Dec. 4–5 state visit that included talks, a business forum and a wreath-laying, with multiple bilateral agreements signed.
• Indian and regional analysts told TASS the summit showed Russia is not isolated and that New Delhi intends to pursue an independent foreign policy.
• Discussions stressed shifting the relationship’s center of gravity to economic cooperation, including peaceful nuclear energy, space, advanced technologies, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced an ambition to lift bilateral trade to $100 billion.
• Commentators pointed to expanded use of national currencies in trade and to transport initiatives such as the North–South corridor and the Northern Sea Route as key geoeconomic tools.