STRONG AND STEADY

President Vladimir Putin’s Delhi visit may have been brief, but it has shown that India remains a key priority for Russia

- PRADIP R. SAGAR

ON DECEMBER 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin flew for over six hours to spend just four hours in Delhi. During the brief visit, India and Russia signed 28 agreements, including one to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles jointly.

The scale and scope of the agreements did not require Putin’s presence. But by choosing India to be his first destination for a bilateral visit after the pandemic struck, he was sending a larger message that he did not consider the world to be a bipolar one dominated by the US and China. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands with Putin and hugged him, he, too, was sending out a similar message.

Putin was accompanied by his Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The high profile visit saw India and Russia reinforcing their ties—with a military and technical cooperation pact which would run till 2031, and with a pledge to boost annual trade to $30 billion by 2025.

“We perceive India as a great power, a friendly nation and a time-tested friend,” said Putin. Modi stressed on bilateral ties, saying both countries shared a “unique and reliable model of interstate friendship”. Moreover, the visit ended speculation about the durability of the bilateral partnership, especially because of India’s burgeoning ties with the US and Russia’s growing friendship with China.