Russia and India are in the final stages of confirming dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, expected to happen in early December 2025, likely around December 5-6.

This visit marks Putin's first trip to India since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022 and will coincide with the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, a pivotal event in the longstanding strategic partnership between the two nations.

Prior to Putin's visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also expected to visit India to help prepare for the summit and discuss a broad spectrum of bilateral issues. Lavrov confirmed these plans during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, underscoring the extensive agenda comprising trade, defence and military-technical cooperation, finance, healthcare, humanitarian matters, high technology, artificial intelligence, and coordination at international fora such as SCO and BRICS.

Despite the ongoing global tensions due to the Russia-Ukraine war and pressures from the United States, including the imposition of 25% tariffs on Indian goods citing India's purchase of Russian oil, Russia maintains full respect for India's sovereign foreign policy decisions.

Lavrov emphasised that the economic partnership between India and Russia is "not under threat" and commended India's strategic autonomy in choosing its trade partners.

He reaffirmed that India decides independently on trade and investment matters, including with Russia, and stressed that India's relations with the U.S. or other countries do not affect its privileged strategic partnership with Russia.

The visit is also significant against the backdrop of the strained India-U.S. ties, particularly related to trade bans and tariffs imposed by the Trump administration aiming to curtail India’s Russian oil imports. India has rebuffed accusations from the U.S. and reasserted that its oil imports are market-driven and prioritised toward national interests.

Bilateral ties between India and Russia remain broad and deep, centred on historical and strategic cooperation. Defence remains a core pillar, with collaborations including joint missile development (BrahMos), fighter jet operations and potential future projects like possible Su-57 production technology transfers. Trade between the two nations hit record highs, surpassing $65 billion recently, with efforts underway to elevate this figure further.

In addition to defence and trade, Russia supports India's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and advocates reforms to reflect global realities, ensuring better representation of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Putin's visit also comes at a time when India seeks to balance its relations with both Russia and Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict, asserting its strategic autonomy and non-alignment stance, including India's choice to not be a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which mitigates concerns about arrest warrants during the visit.

In summary, the visit will reinforce the historically close India-Russia relationship, address mutual interests in defence, trade, technology, and international diplomacy, and symbolise India's independent foreign policy path amid global geopolitical challenges.

Based On ANI Report