India and Russia are using President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi to reset a trade relationship that has become overwhelmingly one-sided and to expand their partnership into new economic and social sectors. The 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit reflects a clear shift away from the traditional focus on defence and energy. While these pillars remain important, both governments now agree that the structure of bilateral trade is unsustainable.
Bilateral trade touched nearly USD 70 billion last year, but the surge came almost entirely from India’s bulk purchases of discounted Russian oil, coal, fertilisers and diamonds. Indian exports amounted to only USD 4.9 billion, creating one of the country’s highest trade deficits with any partner. New Delhi and Moscow have now prioritised balancing this gap, especially as Western sanctions have reshaped Russia’s supply chains and increased its need for new, reliable trade partners.
Multiple under-leveraged sectors offer India substantial room for expansion. Engineering goods are the biggest opportunity: Russian import demand is estimated at USD 2.7–2.8 billion annually, while India supplies only around USD 90 million today. Pharmaceuticals also stand out: India exported USD 577 million worth of medicines last year, a small fraction of Russia’s nearly USD 10 billion drug-import market. Chemicals, plastics, processed food and agricultural products are also expected to play a much larger role in the new framework.
Tourism has unexpectedly become one of the fastest-growing bridges between India and Russia. Streamlined e-visas, more direct flights and cultural festivals such as Bharat Utsav and the International Day of Yoga have sharply increased Indian tourist inflows. Russia now considers India one of its most promising tourist-source markets and plans to host six million foreign visitors annually by 2030, with Indians forming a significant share of that target.
A major pillar of the renewed partnership is labour mobility. Russia’s workforce shortage across construction, manufacturing, engineering and electronics has led both nations to negotiate a formal mechanism for Indian workers. Projections indicate more than 70,000 Indians could be employed in Russia by late 2025, potentially forming a new diaspora and deepening people-to-people ties while creating remittance opportunities for India.
Putin’s visit signals that the India–Russia partnership is entering a new and more diversified stage. Rather than relying primarily on defence contracts and hydrocarbon trade, the focus is shifting toward a broad-based, resilient and future-aligned economic alliance that adapts to the needs of both economies.
