• Russia has been a long standing and time-tested partner for India. Development of India-Russia relations
  has been a key pillar of India’s foreign policy.
• Since the signing of ‘Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership‘in October 2000, India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship.
• During the Cold War, India and the Soviet Union had a strong strategic, military, economic and diplomatic relationship. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited its close relationship with India which resulted in both nations sharing a Special Strategic Relation.
• Under the Strategic Partnership, several institutionalized dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow up on cooperation activities.
• During the visit of the Russian President to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership ‘.
• However, the relations have taken a steep downfall over the past few years, especially in the post-Covid scenario. One of the biggest causes for this is Russia’s close relations with China and Pakistan, which have caused many geopolitical issues in the past few years for India.

Soviet Legacy

• The deep roots of this relationship go back to the early 20th century when India was under British rule and the Tsars ruled Russia.
• The Russian Revolution of 1905 inspired Indian freedom fighters. Mahatma Gandhi, then in South Africa, was struck by the similarity in the prevailing conditions in Russia and India.
• Indian freedom fighters were greatly inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution and after visiting the Soviet Union in 1927, Jawaharlal Nehru was convinced that poor developing countries like India needed to follow not the capitalist path but a development model that emphasized social justice, equality and human dignity.
• It is noteworthy that even before India became independent, an official announcement was made on 13 April 1947 on the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the Soviet Union.
• It was Soviet diplomatic backing and material support, and the confidence provided by the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation, which enabled India to successfully undertake the operations in 1971.
• Public sector companies like BHEL, HAL, ONGC and Steel Plants were setup with Soviet cooperation.
• During Soviet times, it was a truly strategic, if somewhat unequal, partnership which helped India become more self-reliant . As the relationship evolved, it gained strength based on five pillars:

• (a) Similar political and strategic perceptions of the world;

• (b) Intensive military-technical cooperation;

• (c) Strong economic bonds;

• (d) Deep ties in science and technology; and

• (e) People-to-people and cultural links.

There is perhaps no other example of two large countries having domestic consensus about their strategic partnership. The two countries have no bilateral issues or threat perception from each other and exhibit mutual trust and confidence in each other‘s strength.

Above all, there is a positive popular perception about each other. India and Russia have similar security concerns. They strongly condemn terrorism in all forms and manifestations, and call for comprehensive international efforts to combat the menace. They have similar position on global hotspots such as Afghanistan, Syria, and others. Russia has consistently supported India‘s candidature for the expanded United Nations Security Council‘s permanent membership and its application for NSG membership. There is an annual strategic dialogue; besides, the two countries meet regularly in plurilateral groupings such as the BRICS and the SCO. Both countries call for a multipolar order based on the centrality of the United Nations and “rule of law‘ in the international system.