Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of a Toyota Fortuner SUV to ride with Russian President Vladimir Putin on their way to a ceremonial dinner after the Russian leader had just landed drew attention across Indian society. During the Russian leader's December 4-5 state visit there were many carefully curated symbols surrounding the nominal 23rd India-Russia Summit. While many world leaders visiting India have been transported in much more expensive and luxurious cars, the Fortuner has a certain image in Indian society. The Japanese designed SUV, ubiquitous among Delhi and India's wider National Capital Region(NCR)’s newly affluent circles, represents an aura of outward displays of opulence.

Modi also presented Putin with a copy of the Bhagavad Gita - one of Hinduism’s most sacred texts translated in Russian, an intricately carved silver tea set, Indian grown tea leaves and Indian grown saffron from the country’s Kashmir region. The joint statement that emerged at the conclusion of the summit underscores the current trajectory of New Delhi’s relations with Moscow.

While the two sides inked over 16 agreements in various sectors, the framework for Economic Cooperation perhaps captures the overall direction most aptly. President Putin in several statements before and during the summit emphasised that Russia is cognisant of New Delhi's shift from traditional defence procurement towards technological collaboration and industrial cooperation. As a result, a clear pivot towards high-technology sectors, critical minerals, and joint manufacturing ventures dominated much of the agenda in bilateral talks during the summit.

Furthermore, education, migration and labour mobility agreements and a bilateral protocol on customs procedures as well as agreements on food safety standards, and memoranda of understanding concerning maritime training in polar waters demonstrate an institutional relationship expanding beyond the defence-nuclear-energy triad that historically anchored the partnership. The fertiliser sector proved particularly substantive, with both sides welcoming measures to ensure long term supply stability and discussing potential joint venture establishments.

This focus on agricultural inputs reflects Indian anxieties about supply chain vulnerability and food security, areas where Russian capacity remains strategically valuable despite international sanctions regimes. The transport and connectivity agenda disclosed perhaps the second most strategically significant alignment. Both nations committed to deepening cooperation on three critical corridors, the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor, and the Northern Sea Route.

The Polar Waters maritime training memorandum carries particular weight, positioning Indian seafarers to operate within Arctic infrastructure as climate change opens new shipping routes and resource extraction opportunities. In his speech during the joint press conference with President Putin near the conclusion of the summit, Prime Minister Modi explicitly highlighted how this cooperation would create employment opportunities for Indian youth whilst strengthening India's engagement with Arctic geopolitics. The Arctic framing matters considerably. India's designation as an Observer in the Arctic Council, coupled with this technical maritime cooperation, positions the country as an emerging stakeholder in a region traditionally dominated by Nordic and Russian interests.

As polar ice retreats and shipping economics shift, India stands to gain strategic advantages in a future where the Northern Sea Route transforms from fantasy into viable global commerce infrastructure. Energy cooperation discussions revealed both continuities and strategic complications. The joint statement emphasised wide ranging cooperation spanning oil refining, petrochemical technologies, upstream development, liquefied natural gas infrastructure, and underground coal gasification.

Yet buried within the diplomatic language lay acknowledgements of pressing concerns about payment settlements and burgeoning national currency revenues that are difficult to repatriate. The bilateral trade target of $100bn by 2030, mentioned within trade discussions, underscores ambitious economic expansion plans. Yet the joint statement's emphasis on addressing tariff and non tariff barriers, removing logistics bottlenecks, and ensuring smooth payment mechanisms reveals pragmatic acknowledgement of obstacles.

Russia and India have agreed to develop bilateral settlement systems utilising national currencies, move towards interoperability of payment mechanisms, and advance central bank digital currency platforms. These technical measures respond directly to international sanctions pressures constraining traditional US dollar denominated commerce and suggest both nations recognising that future trade sustainability depends on institutional innovation beyond conventional banking channels. Civil nuclear cooperation maintained its traditional prominence within the special and privileged strategic partnership framework.

Both sides confirmed intentions to broaden cooperation across fuel cycle management, operational support for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant(KNPP), and finalise the allotment for building another similarly sized installation. More significantly, accelerated discussions on the VVER reactor design that’s used in KNPP, joint research initiatives, and localised manufacturing of nuclear equipment suggest India's nuclear ambitions now extend beyond purchasing Russian technology towards collaborative indigenous development. The Indian government's target of achieving 100GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 could be bolstered by such partnerships. Defence cooperation remained substantive though notably reoriented.

The 22nd session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation, held in New Delhi on December 4, acknowledged what the joint statement termed a "reorienting" of the partnership towards "joint research and development, co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems." This shift from supplier-purchaser to collaborative innovator reflects India's strategic ambition to graduate from equipment importer to technology partner, a trait also visible in its defence relationships with other countries like the US.

Specific commitments to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, and aggregates for Russian-origin defence systems, coupled with technology transfer enabling mechanisms, suggest a relationship increasingly characterised by “Make in India” imperatives rather than traditional off the shelf procurement patterns. The statement's treatment of geopolitical issues revealed familiar alignment patterns alongside notable reservations.

Both leaders reaffirmed commitment to combating terrorism, condemning the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow and the April 2025 Pahalgam attack in Kashmir with equal emphasis. Yet when addressing Ukraine, India merely noted that it "has consistently advocated for peace" and "welcomes all efforts being made for a peaceful and lasting resolution." This formulation, whilst diplomatic, stops short of endorsing Russian positions. Similarly, the Middle East section emphasised restraint and compliance with international law without direct criticism of any party, a studied neutrality reflecting India's persistent discomfort with becoming drawn into superpower confrontations.

The BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) frameworks commanded substantial attention within the joint statement. Both sides pledged continued engagement within these multilateral institutions, with Russia committing full support for India's BRICS chairship in 2026. The emphasis on expanded BRICS membership, the Group's three pillar cooperation structure, and India's initiative to establish a Civilisational Dialogue Forum(CDF) within SCO suggests New Delhi increasingly views these groupings as vehicles for global narrative influence rather than reactive forums opposing Western dominated institutions.