Relationship dossier
India
Russia
Relationship assessment
A durable strategic partnership centered on defense, nuclear energy and high-level engagement
India toward Russia
+65India has sustained defense procurement and cooperation with Russia, partnered with it in civilian nuclear energy, and maintained high-level strategic engagement. India has also continued energy trade and abstained on several United Nations votes concerning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reflecting a policy of strategic autonomy.
Russia toward India
+65Russia has supplied India with major defense equipment and cooperated on civilian nuclear energy, including the Kudankulam nuclear power project. It has maintained high-level strategic engagement with India and backed India’s interest in a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Overall relationship
+65The relationship rests on a formal strategic partnership and decades of defense cooperation, supplemented by civilian nuclear energy and recurring high-level engagement. These durable ties are balanced by India’s strategic autonomy and the changing geopolitical context, including Russia’s close relationship with China.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
India and Russia maintain a long-standing strategic partnership encompassing defense procurement and cooperation, civilian nuclear energy, and regular high-level engagement. India has continued substantial defense and energy ties with Russia, while also preserving strategic autonomy, including by abstaining on several United Nations votes concerning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The relationship is substantial and durable, though India’s broader partnerships and Russia’s closer ties with China complicate its strategic context.
Key developments
India and Russia established a strategic partnership.
The partnership was elevated to a special and privileged strategic partnership.
Russia and India began cooperation on the Kudankulam nuclear power project.
Major uncertainties
- The future scale and composition of defense cooperation are unclear.
- The long-term effects of sanctions and changes in energy trade on bilateral cooperation are uncertain.