India-Russia Relations

1900–47: Foundations

Modern relations between India and Russia likely began in 1900, when Russia established its first consulate in Bombay (now Mumbai) under the British raj. Political ties were further shaped after the Russian Revolution of 1917, which resulted in the fall of the imperial tsarist leadership and rise of the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. This marked the beginning of the Soviet Union and inspired anti-colonial movements across the world. Several leaders of the Indian Independence Movement, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Manabendra Nath Roy, and Subhas Chandra Bose, were inspired by the revolution and saw it as a model of anti-imperial resistance. The Soviet Union was also sympathetic to the cause of Indian independence.

1947–60: Early diplomatic ties

India and the Soviet Union established official ties on April 13, 1947, four months before India gained independence from the British. Nehru, India’s first prime minister, was greatly inspired by the Soviet economic model, particularly its focus on centralized planning, industrialization, and state-led development. For instance, his government’s policy decisions were often driven by socialist principles, such as establishing the Planning Commission in 1950 and adopting India’s first Five-Year Plan in 1951, both influenced by the Soviet planned economy. In 1953 both countries signed a trade agreement to simplify economic transactions and set structured rules for imports, exports, shipping, and payments.

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Although India refused to join either the United States or Soviet bloc during the Cold War and adopted a policy of nonalignment, it maintained close relations with the Soviet Union. In June 1955 Nehru visited the Soviet Union, setting the stage for Soviet assistance for Indian infrastructure projects. This was followed by two visits to India, totaling 19 days, by Soviet leaders Nikolay Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev. From 1955 to 1960 the Soviet Union helped India with its industrialization, which was prioritized in India’s second Five-Year Plan (1956–61), and provided financial support and technical assistance in the development of major industrial projects such as the Bhilai Steel Plant (now in Chhattisgarh state), which was established in 1955.

In 1956 India was placed in a difficult diplomatic position when the Hungarian Revolution erupted and the Soviet Union sent troops to suppress it. Although India expressed support for Hungarian freedom, it either opposed or abstained from voting on United Nations General Assembly resolutions that condemned the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

The 1950s were a period of cultural exchanges between India and the Soviet Union, particularly driven by the popularity of Indian cinema. Many Indian films were screened in the Soviet Union, and films starring actor Raj Kapoor, such as Awaara and Shree 420, gained immense popularity among Soviet audiences. Other Bollywood actors such as Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were also big in the Soviet Union. Likewise, Soviet cultural influences were visible in literature, education, and science. The works of Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Maxim Gorky, and Anton Chekhov were translated in several Indian languages.

1960–70: Strategic convergence

The 1960s further strengthened ties between the two countries, and while Soviet support for Indian industrialization continued, this decade also resulted in greater strategic alignment. When war broke out between India and China in 1962, the Soviet Union remained somewhat neutral in its public posture but refused to outright support either country. According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the Soviet Union supplied weapons to India during the war and became one of India’s major arms suppliers by 1965.

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During the 1965 India-Pakistan War, India used several Soviet-supplied military systems, signaling a growing defense partnership. For instance, the Indian Air Force deployed Soviet manufactured MiG-21 fighter jets during the war. While the Soviet Union supported India militarily, it was also keen on negotiating an end to the conflict. To this end, Soviet Premier Aleksey Kosygin hosted Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistani Pres. Mohammad Ayub Khan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (then the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic), in 1966. Shastri and Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration to end hostilities. Shastri died unexpectedly of a heart attack in Tashkent, hours after signing the agreement. Some believe that there was foul play in his death, which is the subject of controversy and speculation in India.

In 1968 India refused to directly condemn the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (now the countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia) following pro-liberalization protests in Prague (known as the Prague Spring). Although Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi expressed concern over the invasion, India abstained from voting on UN General Assembly resolutions condemning the Soviet Union.

1970–90: Elevation of ties

On August 9, 1971, India and the Soviet Union signed the landmark Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation, marking a new era in ties. The treaty declared “enduring peace and friendship…between the two countries and their peoples” and committed both sides to nonaggression and noninterference in each other’s internal affairs. It also laid the groundwork for collaboration in a wide range of areas, including culture, education, science, tourism, and trade. The treaty further noted that India and the Soviet Union are committed to global peace and will consult on global issues that affect their mutual interests.

The first test of the treaty’s effectiveness came during the 1971 India-Pakistan War from December 3 to December 16. Soviet assistance proved crucial in India’s military victory over Pakistani forces in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Soviet Union not only backed India in the UN by vetoing resolutions that criticized India but also provided extensive military and logistical support. During the war, the Soviet Union dispatched a naval task force, including an aircraft carrier, to the Bay of Bengal to counter the arrival of a U.S. naval force, which was led by aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in a show of support for Pakistan.

After Afghanistan descended into internal conflict in 1978 when the communist government came to power, the Soviet Union invaded the country in December 1979 in support of the Afghan communist government against mujahideen factions, a move initially criticized by India. The Janata Party government led by Charan Singh opposed Soviet actions by siding with the U.S. in the UN. After Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, she instructed the Indian mission at the UN to abstain from voting, despite expressing reservations about the invasion to Soviet leaders.

During this period, cooperation expanded to several areas, including defense, space, and trade. India steadily expanded its purchase of Soviet military hardware such as advanced fighter jets, tanks, and submarines. In 1984 Rakesh Sharma, aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, became the first Indian in space—a milestone that highlighted years of Indo-Soviet collaboration in space exploration. During the late 1980s the Soviet Union, mired in several external conflicts and beset with internal political problems, was on the verge of collapse, but its ties with India remained stable.

1990–2000: Reset and growth

The Soviet Union was formally dissolved on December 31, 1991, and disintegrated into 15 independent countries, including Russia, which emerged as the successor state to the Soviet Union and inherited most of its assets and obligations. India recognized Russia as such and sought continuity in ties. In 1993 both countries signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, which emphasized cooperation in such crucial spheres as counterterrorism, maritime security, nuclear disarmament, and disaster management.

When India conducted three underground nuclear tests in Pokhran, Rajasthan, on May 11, 1998, Russia initially criticized the tests and urged India to revise its nuclear policy. However, Russia refused to join the U.S. and other countries in sanctioning India and continued bilateral cooperation. During the 1999 Kargil War between India and Pakistan in May, Russia reportedly supported India both militarily and diplomatically.

2000–22: Strategic partnership

This period witnessed increased strategic cooperation between India and Russia, particularly in defense and energy. Vladimir Putin, who was elected president of Russia in 2000, visited India in October that year and the two sides signed the historic Declaration on Strategic Partnership. The declaration called for an expansion of bilateral cooperation in fields such as trade, defense, energy, science and technology, and culture. It also established a mechanism for annual summits between leaders of the two countries.

India and Russia worked on several collaborative projects during the 2000s, including the following key initiatives.

• In October 2000, they formed the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation, which is the “main working body” that guides defense cooperation.
• They agreed to jointly produce the Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter jet in October 2000 for the Indian Air Force.
• India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh acquired a 20 percent stake in the Sakhalin-1 oil and natural gas field in Russia in July 2001.
• The first successful test of the multiplatform BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was conducted in India in 2001. The missile was the result of a joint venture between Russia and India in 1998. BrahMos was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005, the Indian Army in 2007, and the Indian Air Force in 2019.
• Construction of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu began in March 2002 with Russian scientific and technical expertise on hand.
• India signed a deal with Russia to purchase Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov in 2004. It was refurbished and renamed as INS Vikramaditya and was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2013.

In 2010 India and Russia elevated relations to a “special and privileged strategic partnership,” which further expanded bilateral ties. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia was India’s largest supplier of arms from 2010–14, accounting for roughly 72 percent of Indian arms purchases.

In early 2014 Russia received a slew of international sanctions following its invasion and subsequent annexation of the southeastern Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Although India expressed concern over the invasion, it did not sanction Russia and abstained from voting against Russia at the UN. In 2018 India signed a landmark $5.4 billion deal to purchase the advanced S-400 Triumf long-range air defense system from Russia.

This period also witnessed increasing cooperation between Russia and China, with which India has several territorial disputes. India also improved strategic cooperation with the U.S. and other Western countries and diversified its arms imports. Although Russia was India’s largest supplier of arms during 2015–19, its share in India’s total arms purchases declined to 55 percent, from 72 percent in the previous four years.

2022– : Russia-Ukraine War and balancing ties

In 2022 Russia’s relations with the global community were disrupted following its invasion of Ukraine. Russia came under a multitude of sanctions. However, India has largely resisted pressure from Western countries to condemn Russia’s invasion and restrict its energy purchases from Russia. India not only abstained from voting against Russia at the UN but also increased the purchase of discounted Russian oil in 2022, making Russia the largest supplier of crude oil to India that year.

In early 2025 SIPRI noted that India continued to diversify its arms imports, which had decreased by 9.3 percent between 2015 and 2024. Although Russia remained India’s top arms supplier, its share in India’s arms imports was reduced to 36 percent in the 2020–24 period, partly because of India’s growing capability to indigenously manufacture arms.

In December 2025 Putin visited India for the 23rd India-Russia annual summit and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A joint statement released following the summit in New Delhi stressed that they would bolster bilateral relations. They agreed to enhance economic and trade ties, improve defense and energy partnerships, and increase nuclear and outer space cooperation. India and Russia also agreed to reinforce transport and connectivity, particularly through the expansion of existing transport corridors, such as:

• International North-South Transport Corridor: A multimodal network of about 4,500 miles (7,200 km) that links India with Russia via Iran, Central Asia, and Europe. It aims to reduce transit times and costs of goods.
• Chennai-Vladivostok (Eastern Maritime) Corridor: A proposed sea route of more than 6,200 miles (10,000 km) that connects India’s eastern region with Russia’s far east.
• Northern Sea Route: A shipping lane across Russia’s Arctic region that would shorten cargo journeys between Asia and Europe.

In July 2026, amid the Russia-Ukraine War, India summoned the Russian envoy to lodge a formal protest after four Indian seafarers were killed in a Russian missile strike on a merchant vessel in the Black Sea near Ukraine. In a statement, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs called the incident “unacceptable” and urged Russia to avoid attacks on commercial vessels.