 Summary of this article
- Putin receives a grand ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, pays homage at Rajghat, and holds marathon delegation-level talks with PM Modi, underscoring India–Russia defence, energy, and geopolitical cooperation.
- India and Russia sign a key MoU on port and shipping cooperation, review long-term energy contracts, and chart a roadmap to expand bilateral trade toward $100 billion by 2030.
- Discussions focus on student exchanges, cultural initiatives, AI, space, and 6G, alongside India reaffirming support for a peaceful resolution in Ukraine, signalling strategic autonomy in global affairs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin began the Day 2 of his India visit with a grand state welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, complete with a 21-gun salute, mounted cavalry escort, and a full guard of honour. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received him personally. This is Putin’s first state visit to India in six years and comes at a time when Moscow faces a sustained diplomatic freeze from Western nations. The optics of such a ceremonial reception reassert New Delhi’s commitment to its “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” with Russia, signalling that India will not let global geopolitical pressures dictate its bilateral priorities.
Homage at Rajghat and the Message of Multipolarity
Putin then visited Rajghat to lay a wreath at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial. In the visitors’ book, he wrote that Gandhi’s ideals of peace, non-violence, equality, and mutual respect remain deeply relevant today, especially as India and Russia “work together for a just multipolar world order.” The message, while framed in Gandhian language, was a deliberate geopolitical signal — tying India–Russia cooperation to a shared vision of multipolarity and subtly countering Western narratives of liberal dominance and sanctions-driven isolation.
Marathon Talks at Hyderabad House
Putin and Modi held extensive restricted and delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House, lasting over four hours and covering almost every major pillar of the relationship. The Indian delegation included External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, the Defence and Petroleum Secretaries, Commerce and Science officials, and CEOs of leading PSUs. The breadth of representation underscored that this visit is not merely about defence procurement but about resetting and widening the entire strategic framework — defence, energy, technology, trade, education, and logistics.
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Deepening Defence and Security Cooperation
The discussions on defence focused on continuity, expansion, and co-development. India and Russia reviewed the progress of S-400 deliveries and the joint production of AK-203 rifles in Uttar Pradesh, while exploring deeper cooperation on the Su-57 fighter aircraft programme, Ka-226T helicopters, and BrahMos exports to third countries. A major strategic shift came with the operationalisation of the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS), giving both nations access to each other’s military bases, ports, and airfields. For India, this opens pathways into the Arctic and northern sea routes; for Russia, it strengthens access to Indian Ocean facilities — marking a quiet but significant upgrade in military-to-military interoperability.
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