The long-running strategic dialogue between India and Russia now seems to be reaching a turning point. A major military development has come to light after the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to reports, India is going to lease an advanced nuclear-powered submarine from Russia at a cost of around $2 billion. This is the same deal which was stuck for almost a decade due to price and technical conditions, but now according to inside sources the agreement has been finalized. The visit of Indian officials to the Russian shipyard in November is a clear indication that the project has received formal approval. As per the plan, delivery of the submarine is expected to take place over the next two years, although the timeline may extend further given the complexity of the project. This step can prove to be a game-changer for India’s maritime security and strategic capability. It will be worth seeing in what direction this deal will take the defense cooperation between the two countries in the coming times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting India on October 4 and this visit of about 30 hours is considered very important for Global Politics and Trade. This will be his first visit to India after the Ukraine War, in which major decisions on Trade Agreements and Defense Cooperation are possible. In such a situation, the eyes of the world are on which direction India will move amidst Geopolitical Tensions, Tariffs War and changing Global Alliances. Trade Tariffs have been the most important aspect of this whole story. In April, additional tariffs were imposed on more than 100 countries including India and due to buying discounted crude oil from Russia, the pressure of 50% extra tariffs on India increased further. US President Trump continues to warn that India will face severe punishment if it increases trade with Russia. For this reason, India reduced oil purchases from Russia to a great extent, whereas this trade used to give Indian companies a profit of more than Rs 1 lakh crore every year and the Rupee-Ruble Settlement also strengthened the foreign reserve. Now the future of Russian Oil Purchase is also in trouble. Trade numbers of India and Russia also show a big difference. India’s exports to Russia are only US$4.9B while imports reach US$63.8B. With 80–90% of trade in commodities like Crude Oil and Fertilizers, the trade deficit increases manifold. If we look at India-US trade, Export is US$87.3B and Import is US$41.5B, which makes US India’s largest and high-value trade partner. Despite this, India is working on creating new trade alliances. After the Shanghai Summit, there have been signs of improvement in India-China economic relations and regulations are being eased for Chinese firms in many sectors, and work is also going on to increase India’s exports in IT and Biomedicine.