As Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi continue to strengthen the decades-long relationship between the two countries, events in India will be closely watched by the United States.
Regular Soviet supplies and licensed production of aircraft, tanks, submarines and artillery systems through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s made Russia central to India’s military ecosystem. Training, maintenance and doctrine became intertwined.
Even today, it is estimated that 70 to 80 per cent of Indian hardware when it comes to arms and ammunition comes from Russia.
India relies on several Russian-made weapons systems including the Su-30MKI fighters, T-90 and T-72 main battle tanks, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, S-400 Triumf, INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier and the Chakra II nuclear submarine.
This handout photograph released by the Indian Air Force on May 22, 2019 and taken at an undisclosed location in 2017 shows a BrahMos air to surface cruise missile being launched from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter aircraft. File Photo/Handout/Indian Air Force/AFP (First Post)
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said: "Our PM Narendra Modi had captured the very soul of our relationship with Russia when he said, 'On hearing the word Russia, the first word that comes to the mind of every Indian is 'India's sukh-dukh ka saathi'."
It translates to India's companion and friend in good and bad times."
MoS Defence Sanjay Seth on Dec 4, Thursday received Defence Minister of Russia Andrei Belousov at Air Force Station, Palam in New Delhi.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan was also present.
The Russian Defence Minister will co-chair the 22nd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation ministerial meeting with Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh at Manekshaw Centre.
In an interview with 'India Today TV', the Russian leader went on to say that during the SCO Summit earlier this year, they mostly spoke about the summit's agenda.
"It wasn’t pre-planned. We stepped outside, my car was there, and I suggested that we ride together. It wasn’t some elaborate orchestration, we simply got into the car as two friends." "We talked throughout the drive; there’s always something to discuss. We even sat inside the car for quite some time afterward," he added.
At the time, that is on Sept 1, PM Modi had posted a photo on X of the rare carpool, with the caption, “After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting. Conversations with him are always insightful."
Putin’s trip to India comes as the shadow of Ukraine continues to hang over the world. It also comes after high-level talks between the United States and Russia over Ukraine failed to deliver a breakthrough. Trump, remember, had vowed to end Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to the White House.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner meeting with Putin and the Kremlin on Tuesday, there was no forward progress on bringing peace to Ukraine.
Some memory references:
Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1955 and 1961 visits to the USSR were building blocks of the relationship.
The Soviets backed India’s industrialisation drive at a time when few others were willing to invest political capital in India’s development.
Indira Gandhi era and the treaty
The Indo–Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1971 brought the relationship into a new stratosphere.
As India and Pakistan clashed over East Pakistan — soon to become Bangladesh — global alignments hardened.
The Nixon administration tilted sharply towards Pakistan, deploying the Seventh Fleet’s Task Force 74 to the Bay of Bengal. Britain moved the HMS Eagle into the region.
India’s recognition of Bangladesh raised the stakes even further.
The Soviet Union stepped in. It deployed its own naval assets, including nuclear submarines, signalling that any intervention by outside powers would be met with consequences. And at the UN Security Council, Moscow repeatedly vetoed ceasefire resolutions pushed by the US and UK, buying India the diplomatic space it needed. Days later, Pakistani forces surrendered in Dhaka.
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