External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as India and Russia sought to further strengthen their economic, strategic and diplomatic partnership. The discussions focused on key areas such as bilateral trade, energy cooperation, fertiliser supplies, nuclear projects and broader economic engagement between the two countries.
During the meeting, Putin assured India of continued supplies of fertilisers, an important issue for Indian agriculture. The two sides also discussed ways to expand cooperation in energy and other strategic sectors, while exploring opportunities to increase trade and investment.
India-Russia bilateral goods trade has grown nearly four-fold, reaching close to $60 billion. However, the rapid expansion has also widened India’s trade deficit with Russia to more than $50 billion. Jaishankar highlighted the need to address this imbalance and described improving the structure of bilateral trade as a key priority for India.
Despite the trade gap, both countries remain committed to significantly expanding economic ties, with an ambitious target of reaching $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. Achieving this goal is expected to require greater Indian exports to Russia, increased investment and broader cooperation across sectors.
The Moscow discussions also carry wider diplomatic significance, coming ahead of upcoming meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS. With India and Russia continuing to deepen cooperation on both economic and strategic fronts, the talks underscored the importance of their long-standing partnership and efforts to give it greater economic momentum.
