As winter chills New Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin swept into the Indian capital for a two-day state visit on December 4–5, stirring warm excitement and euphoria after a four-year gap since his last trip in December 2021. Scathing Western sanctions, oppressive tariff threats by Washington to trade partners, even an arrest warrant, haven’t stopped him from rolling back into one of Russia’s closest mates.

India has been a naysayer to unilateral sanctions, but despite pressures from the West and a 50 percent tariff threat by US President Donald Trump’s administration, India has steadily ramped up its crude oil imports from Russia. The bilateral trade has jumped to $69 billion in the 2024–25 financial year—from merely $10 billion in the post-pandemic period. If there’s a wish, there’s a way—Moscow and New Delhi, the match of the moment, showed the world.

Following the 23rd India–Russia annual summit in New Delhi on December 5, President Putin emphasized that Moscow and New Delhi had agreed to strengthen cooperation across areas of security, economy, trade, and culture, followed by a five-year plan to boost economic and trade ties. In his consequential state visit to India—amid Washington-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine—President Putin stressed raising bilateral annual trade to $100 billion, emphasizing trade settlement in national currencies. The two nations have taken a significant step toward strengthening their longstanding partnership in the health sector with the signing of a comprehensive Agreement on Cooperation in Healthcare, Medical Education, and Science. He called for an “uncompromising” global fight against terrorism without “hidden agendas and double standards.”

While arriving with a highly packed agenda and large delegation, Putin highlighted energy as a pivotal area and ensured uninterrupted fuel supplies to India, a nation of 1.5 billion, and proposed joint ventures in small modular as well as floating nuclear reactor construction. The defiant President also noted ongoing collaboration on establishing new international logistics routes.

President Putin’s India visit, amid the red eyes of the West and terrible logistics challenges, indirectly strengthens Iran’s strategic relevance by deepening India–Russia energy and connectivity cooperation that runs through, or around, Iranian geography and sanctions pressure. Currently—it does not lift Iran’s (alleged) isolation, but it reinforces Tehran’s role in the North–South corridors amid stiff sanctions and alienation of the prosperous nation.

Putin’s state visit and the plan for the North–South corridor places renewed emphasis on the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and allied North–South routes that link Russia and India to the Persian Gulf and Europe. Iran sits at the heart of the classic INSTC alignment via Bandar Abbas, Bandar Anzali, Tehran, and the Caspian, and Russia has recently financed missing rail segments in Iran. India has already negotiated for the Chabahar Port with the US temporarily, and it is expected that port will touch the lives of millions in war-torn Afghanistan and the landlocked Central Asian region. During the visit, the Chennai–Vladivostok maritime corridor was a priority.

If INSTC and peripheral projects actually move from rhetoric to execution, Iran could earn more from transit fees, logistics services, and industrial zones linked to Russia–India trade in fertilizers, grain, petrochemicals, as well as machinery. This would partially offset sanctions-related losses and integrate Iranian ports and railways into a wider Eurasian value chain, making it harder for outside powers to economically isolate Tehran without hurting Indian and Russian interests.

During his colourful state visit, President Vladimir Putin, at the bilateral summit, emphasised the significance of early signing of a preferential trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), accommodating Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, which will drive economic integration in the region. India and the EAEU finalised the terms of reference for the trade deal in August and recently concluded the first round of talks.

India was forced to stop buying oil from Iran, despite having several advantages including suitability for the refineries, currency trade, insurance, and logistics.
However, importing oil from Russia is not sanctioned by the US, whereas US sanctions are implied on imports from Iran and Venezuela. India, with a $2,500 per capita income, is paying a tough price and bleeding internally, despite not fighting the war against Ukraine, rather promoting peace. As India is all set to assume BRICS presidency, it’s obvious Iran, as a new member, will be supported by India and Russia on several fronts, including non-SWIFT payment settlements.

India and Russia, two strategic partners that hold 2+2 dialogue, are in talks for more concrete collaboration on Russian S-400, S-500, and SU-57 systems, based on India’s desire for these hardware marvels.

One of Russia’s challenges has remained its less engagement with the English-speaking world and mostly relying on indigenous tongues. But Russia’s elegant legacy in literature and science is unmatched in the world—just as something of Persian legacy. The launch of Russia Today India by President Putin during his visit is poised to disrupt agendas and narratives dropped by Western elite media and empower millions to think and question more critically in this post-truth era.

During the state visit, India and Russia also inked agreements on cooperation in health and food safety sectors. Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation, has delivered the first consignment of nuclear fuel for initial loading of the third reactor at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India’s Tamil Nadu. The plant is reportedly to have six VVER-1000 reactors and a total installed capacity of 6,000 MW.

From the President’s entourage, Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut met Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Indian Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, to identify new avenues of collaboration in several sectors ranging from modern farming practices, research exchange and innovation, and sustainable agriculture. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov co-chaired the 22nd session of India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation.

Russia’s $2.6 trillion vibrant economy is warm enough to accommodate more Indian entrants. On the other hand, India will boost investment in Russia, including in the Far East and the Arctic region. The region is likely to employ thousands of skilled Indians. President Putin’s entourage was mosaic and large in number, ranging from business behemoths to nuclear officials to cinema personalities. Putin and PM Modi—each of the pair has extended his heart and hands to the other. The visit will articulate the grammar for decades of bilateral bonhomie. PM Modi’s warm hosting of the beleaguered and embattled Russia’s President Putin will show that the course of bilateral ties is not to be dictated by third parties; their words are not rehearsed or scripted—they make their choices on their own. Amid threats and tariff hikes, the India–Russia partnership has shown resilience, be it in currency trading or in paving the way for multipolarity in this era of syncretism.

Ayanangsha Maitra, PhD, is a New Delhi–based journalist associated with the Global South Economic Forum at COGGS, a Global South think tank.

*The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Tehran Times' editorial stance.