On the 17th of October, 2024, Chatham House published an explainer on India-Russia Relations. Written by Dr Chietigj Bajpaee and Lisa Toremark, the explainer presents an account of India and Russia’s relationship, exploring its history and present circumstances. India’s historic cooperation with the Soviet Union and its pragmatic, practical policy towards defence and energy incentivise it to maintain positive and strong relations with the Russian Federation. However, the explainer also explores the relationship’s slow decline, precipitated by changing priorities in defence as India attempts to ramp up domestic defence production and expand its pool of available arms imports. Meanwhile, Russia’s exports of arms to India have dropped significantly. Ideologically, India’s non-Western foreign policy doesn’t go far enough to match Russia’s (alongside China’s and Iran’s) anti-Western worldview. However, the article does highlight that India is still incentivised to engage with Moscow to balance against China in the region.
Related Articles in India’s world:
The Many Splendored World by C Raja Mohan
Putin’s 25-Year Reign: Navigating Russia’s Tumultuous Transformation by Nandan Unnikrishnan
