Moscow [Russia], December 3 (ANI): Russia and India plan to sign a programme for the development of strategic cooperation areas in the economy by 2030, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, a day ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to India.
Russian state media TASS quoted Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov telling reporters that the upcoming December 4-5 visit of Putin is “important” as it “provides the opportunity to comprehensively discuss the entire extensive agenda of Russian-Indian ties.”
“It is meant to sign and adopt the whole range of bilateral documents in the various spheres in conclusion of the visit, including the Development Programme of strategic areas of Russian-Indian economic cooperation by 2030,” Ushakov said as per the TASS media outlet.
Both Moscow and New Delhi are paying high attention to the visit, the presidential aide said, adding that Putin’s visit “planned for a long time” will boost ties between the two countries that are already “on the rise.”
Further, the Kremlin aide was cited by TASS as saying that bilateral trade turnover “gained 12% and reached $63.6 billion.”
“We have a lot of large-scale promising projects in the most different areas – these are production cooperation, innovative technologies, transport, peaceful space, fields development, healthcare, labour migration programmes and many others,” Ushakov noted, as per the Russian state media.
Russians made over 880,000 trips to India as part of tourist exchanges, and Indians visited Russia 40,000 times in 2024, the presidential aide was quoted as saying.
Putin is visiting India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. This is his first visit to India in four years.
According to a statement by the MEA, Putin’s state visit will provide an opportunity for the leadership of India and Russia to review progress in bilateral relations, set the vision for strengthening the “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Putin’s visit marks the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership between India and Russia, established in October 2000. During the Russian President’s visit to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.”
Intensifying trade and economic relations has been identified as a priority area, with a target of increasing bilateral trade to 100 billion dollars by 2030. Bilateral trade between India and Russia reached a record high of 68.7 billion dollars in 2024-25.
On December 2, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, the Duma, ratified an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and India on procedures for dispatching military personnel, as well as military ships and aircraft, to each other’s territory.
The Reciprocal Exchange of Logistic Support (RELOS) agreement signed in Moscow on February 18, 2025, between Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar and former Russian Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, will “streamline not only the dispatch of troops and equipment, but also their logistics.”
“The established procedure will be used during joint exercises, training sessions, humanitarian aid, disaster relief efforts after natural and man-made disasters, and in other cases by agreement,” as per the document submitted by the Russian Cabinet to the Duma in November, TASS reported.
During his visit to India, Putin is being accompanied by a Russian delegation, including Defence Minister Andrey Belousov and other ministers. The delegation also includes representatives of the Federal Customs Service, Russia’s financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Director Dmitry Shugayev, and the CEOs of Roscosmos, Rosatom, and VEB.RF.
From the business community, Russia will be represented by the heads of Rosneft, Sberbank, Basic Element, Rusal, VTB Bank, the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers, Roskhim, and Transmashholding, among others, the Kremlin aide said.
Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold the 23rd India-Russia Summit. So far, 22 annual summits have alternated between India and Russia.
In the afternoon, both leaders will address the India-Russia Business Forum.
During his two-day visit, Putin will hold bilateral talks with PM Modi in New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu will also receive the Russian President and host a state banquet in Putin’s honour.
Putin, while addressing an investment forum in Moscow on Tuesday, said that Moscow aims to “elevate cooperation” with India, taking its partnership to a “qualitatively new level,” establishing substantive dialogue on economic issues.
Putin said that the objective of numerous joint projects in energy, industry, space, agriculture, and other sectors is to elevate ties with Beijing and New Delhi.
“We aim to elevate cooperation with the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India to a qualitatively new level by strengthening its technological component. This is the objective of numerous joint projects in energy, industry, space, agriculture, and other sectors,” he said.
Both leaders will exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. (ANI)
