The 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit took place in Russia from 8 to 9 July, 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Russian Federation for an official visit at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin. It was PM Modi’s first visit to a state after getting elected for the third term as a the Prime Minister of India. PM Modi and President Putin reviewed “the entire range of multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchanged views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest”.
It was a regular summit for India and Russia which improved strategic ties and enhanced mutual trust. PM Modi’s last visit to Russia was during an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok in 2019. PM Modi’s specific effort in the development of India and Russia’s relationship made President Putin award Russia’s highest civilian honour the “Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle”. Both the leaders appreciated the special and strategic partnership based on “trust, mutual understanding and strategic convergence”.
Why is this visit special?
The relations between India and Russia is always considered to be solid and important. But this trip was unique for India-Russia relations. Firstly because it was the first visit of PM Modi to a state after getting elected for the third term in India. Second it was after a three-year long gap that the two leaders are meeting at a time when the West has been critical about Russia and Russia’s action on Ukraine.
Third, during the G20 presidency of India in 2023, India successfully published the declaration of the G20 leaders without criticizing Russia for Russia-Ukraine war. It was a great success for India to manage its strategic freedom without coming under the pressure of Western powers. Fourth, many Global South countries are not in favor of unilateral sanctions on Russia. India is also one of the major powers from Global South having concerns about issues affecting Global South in terms of fertilizer, food and fuel.
With changing geopolitics of the world, this visit re-enhanced the mutual trust between India and Russia. It showed that they believe in a just world order and multipolarity.
Changing Geopolitics, Stable Relationship
The geopolitics of the world is changing. Major changes in world politics in the last decade has been the emergence of China, US-China clashes, Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine war, etc. The trust among the nations seems to be slowly reducing.
However, when nations have been engulfed in their cycle of not being able to trust one another, India and Russia have had a long history of mutual trust. They have supported each other in crucial time, during international crisis and international events. In this challenging and uncertain geopolitical situation, India and Russia have continued their trust and long-term partnership overtly. From defence ties to nuclear cooperation, India-Russia have stood together.
As PM Modi said, “The special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia has advanced over the past 10 years, including in the areas of energy, security, trade, investment, health, education, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges”.
With changing geopolitics, India’s major worry is Russia falling in the lap of China. Western sanctions is alienating Russia from the other major Western powers. India is not promoting the western agenda of alienating Russia from international politics instead India is standing with Russia in the United Nation and abstained from UN resolutions against Russia. India is following its strategic autonomy on international issues.
Outcome of the visit
With the official visit of PM Modi, Russia felt assured of India’s strategic autonomy and that India is not working or developing its foreign policy under the pressure of the West. India’s clear stand on Russia-Ukraine war in the UN and also in organizations like in G-20 has led Russia to be confident of India-Russia relationship. Both the leaders were satisfied with thegrowth of economic relations in 2023. The new target of bilateral trade is USD100 billion by 2030.
Both the countries signed nine MoUs and agreements on different issues like climate change, trade, investment promotion, cooperation and collaboration on broadcasting, etc.They agreed to continue interaction on key issues in different organisations like SCO and BRICS. PM Modi has invited President Putin for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit in 2025, which will be in India.