Further strengthening the enduring defence partnership and Army-to-Army cooperation between the two nations.
General Dhiraj Seth, Chief of the Army Staff, concluded his official visit to Russia from September 16 to 18, 2026, aimed at further strengthening the enduring defence partnership and Army-to-Army cooperation between the two nations.
During the visit, the COAS engaged with senior Russian military leadership, including the Deputy Minister of Defence, and visited key military institutions.
The engagements provided insights into professional military education and training methodologies, while facilitating an exchange of operational experiences and perspectives on contemporary military developments.
The visit underscored the enduring bonds of friendship, trust and military diplomacy between India and Russia, while reinforcing the commitment of both countries towards deeper defence cooperation and continued exchange of expertise.
But the history is a long one.
Aviation & Aircraft
Russia has historically been one of India's principal defence suppliers, with the relationship extending across aircraft, missiles, armoured vehicles, naval platforms and other military systems.
The Su-30MKI has become one of the principal fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force and is produced in India under a licensed arrangement. India has also operated MiG-29 and MiG-29K aircraft, while Russian-origin Kamov helicopters have served important roles with the Indian armed forces.
Missiles & Air Defense
The S-400 air defence system represents one of the major Russian-origin systems acquired by India.
The BrahMos missile, meanwhile, represents a different dimension of the relationship. It is the product of India-Russia cooperation and has become an important example of joint development and production.
Land Systems
Russian-origin armoured platforms have also formed a major part of India's land warfare capability.
The T-90 Bhishma and T-72 have been operated extensively by the Indian Army, with production and assembly capabilities developed in India. The BMP-2 infantry combat vehicle has likewise remained an important component of the Army's mechanised formations.
Naval Assets
The naval relationship has included the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, originally built in the Soviet Union and subsequently extensively modified for Indian service.
India has also operated Talwar-class frigates and Kilo-class submarines of Russian origin.
The scale and duration of this defence relationship explain why India-Russia ties cannot be understood simply as a buyer-seller relationship. Over decades, the two countries developed arrangements involving technology transfer, licensed production, maintenance, training and technical cooperation.
But it all depends on energy, and that is fuel.
Automobiles and the Question of Mobility
Why begin a story about defence relations with automobiles?
Because mobility has always mattered.
From the earliest steam-powered road vehicles to modern internal-combustion engines and electric vehicles, the development of the automobile has fundamentally changed the way people and goods move.
For military forces, mobility is equally important.
Armies may move on foot, but modern warfare depends heavily on vehicles, logistics and the ability to move men, ammunition, equipment and fuel across difficult terrain.
Fancy names do not determine modern warfare. Mobility does.
And mobility comes through energy.
In today's strategic environment, therefore, fuel and energy security are closely connected with national security.
This is one reason the India-Russia relationship today extends well beyond defence equipment.
The India-Russia Relationship
The Republic of India and the Russian Federation established diplomatic relations in 1991, continuing a relationship that had developed between India and the Soviet Union over several decades.
Traditionally, the strategic partnership has covered politics, defence, civil nuclear energy, counter-terrorism cooperation and cooperation in space.
The India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission remains an important mechanism for bilateral engagement, while the two countries also interact through international groupings including the United Nations, BRICS, the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Russia has also consistently supported India's aspiration for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
But to understand the relationship, one has to go back much further.
The History
India's official diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were established in April 1947, shortly before India's independence.
The relationship gradually developed during the 1950s, particularly after Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to the Soviet Union in 1955 and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's subsequent visit to India.
The Soviet Union provided substantial economic and military assistance to India during this period. Cooperation expanded into industrial development, defence production and technology.
The relationship acquired an additional strategic dimension after the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
The Soviet Union subsequently became a major source of military equipment for India, including aircraft and other defence systems. The arrangement was particularly significant because Moscow was willing to support licensed production and technology transfer in India.
The Soviet Union also played a role in the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin hosting talks between India and Pakistan at Tashkent.
Relations remained close through the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited the Soviet Union on his first state visit abroad. His engagement with Soviet leadership was followed by continued high-level political and economic cooperation.
Despite changes in India's domestic politics and foreign policy, the relationship with Moscow remained an important pillar of India's external relations.
Modern political relations
The collapse of the Soviet Union created a new environment for both countries.
India and Russia had to rebuild their relationship in a changing international system, and the major political initiative came in 2000 with the signing of the India-Russia Strategic Partnership.
The partnership was subsequently expanded across defence, energy, trade, space, nuclear cooperation and other sectors.
Russia remains one of India's important defence partners, while India has simultaneously sought to diversify its defence procurement and strengthen relationships with other countries.
The annual ministerial-level defence dialogue and the broader mechanisms of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission have helped sustain high-level engagement.
The relationship, however, is no longer the same as it was during the Soviet era.
The global strategic environment has changed dramatically.
India, Russia and a Changing World
India's relationship with Russia today exists alongside its expanding engagement with the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and other partners.
At the same time, Russia's relationship with China has deepened considerably.
This has created a more complicated strategic environment for New Delhi.
The Ukraine conflict further demonstrated this complexity.
India maintained its independent position on the conflict while continuing its engagement with Russia. At the same time, India continued to strengthen its relationships with Western countries and remained an active participant in groupings such as the Quad.
The balancing act reflects India's broader foreign-policy approach, in which strategic autonomy remains important.
India's relations with Russia therefore cannot be viewed solely through the prism of the Cold War.
They have evolved according to changing security requirements, economic interests, energy needs and the wider balance of power.
And that brings us back to energy.
The modern world runs on energy, and strategic partnerships increasingly involve not just weapons and military hardware but also oil, gas, nuclear power, technology, logistics and industrial cooperation.
The old relationship was built around Soviet steel.
The relationship of today is much broader.
Indira Gandhi's Gamble: The Indo-Soviet Treaty and the End of Non-Alignment
The most defining moment in the history of India-Soviet relations came in 1971.
On August 9, 1971, Indian External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation in New Delhi.
The treaty came at a time of extraordinary geopolitical tension in South Asia.
For years, India's foreign policy had been associated with Non-Alignment, a policy strongly identified with Jawaharlal Nehru. India sought to avoid becoming part of either the American or Soviet bloc during the Cold War.
But the crisis of 1971 placed enormous pressure on that approach.
The situation in East Pakistan had created a massive refugee crisis, with millions of people crossing into India.
At the same time, India faced the possibility of a conflict involving Pakistan and the potential intervention of China.
The United States was closely aligned with Pakistan, while relations between China and India remained deeply strained.
The Soviet Union, meanwhile, had its own strategic concerns, particularly its rivalry with China.
The circumstances created a convergence of interests between New Delhi and Moscow.
The Nixon Shock and the Triangular Trap
The diplomatic environment changed further in 1971 when the United States and China moved towards a historic rapprochement, with Pakistan playing an important role in facilitating contacts between Washington and Beijing.
For New Delhi, this development added another layer of strategic uncertainty.
India faced the possibility of having Pakistan, China and the United States operating in an environment that was increasingly unfavourable to Indian interests.
The Indo-Soviet treaty consequently provided India with an important diplomatic and strategic counterweight.
The Soviet Calculation
The Soviet Union also had its own reasons for strengthening relations with India.
The Sino-Soviet split had already created serious tensions between Moscow and Beijing.
India had become an important Soviet partner in South Asia, while Moscow had emerged as a major supplier of military equipment to the Indian armed forces.
The treaty therefore served the interests of both sides.
For India, it provided strategic reassurance at a critical moment.
For the Soviet Union, it strengthened its position in South Asia and deepened its relationship with a major regional power.
The Anatomy of Article IX
The treaty stopped short of creating a formal military alliance.
However, Article IX contained an important security provision. It required the two countries to consult each other in the event of a threat or attack and to take appropriate measures to ensure peace and security.
This provision was particularly significant in the context of the strategic uncertainties surrounding the 1971 crisis.
India continued to describe its foreign policy as non-aligned, but the treaty demonstrated how national security considerations could lead New Delhi towards much closer strategic cooperation with Moscow.
The Treaty in Action: December 1971
The true test came when war broke out in December 1971.
India entered the conflict after months of growing tension and the massive refugee crisis caused by events in East Pakistan.
The United States moved naval assets into the Bay of Bengal, while China remained supportive of Pakistan but did not open a military front against India.
The Soviet Union provided diplomatic support to India during the crisis and used its position at the United Nations to oppose moves that could have immediately halted India's military campaign before its objectives in the East had been achieved.
On December 16, 1971, Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka.
Bangladesh emerged as an independent country.
The victory was achieved through the military operations of the Indian armed forces alongside the Mukti Bahini, but the diplomatic environment in which the war was fought was equally significant.
The Final Lines
The Indo-Soviet relationship was never simply about friendship.
It was also about interests, security, technology, energy, geography and the changing balance of power.
From the industrial projects and defence cooperation of the Soviet era to the strategic partnership of the present day, the relationship has repeatedly adapted to changing circumstances.
The relationship survived the collapse of the Soviet Union. It survived the transformation of the international system. And it has continued through a period in which India has simultaneously deepened its engagement with the United States and other Western powers while maintaining its long-standing relationship with Moscow.
That is perhaps the most important difference between the relationship of 1971 and the relationship of today.
India is no longer operating in a strictly bipolar world.
Its strategic partnerships are wider, its interests are more diversified and its choices are increasingly shaped by multiple centres of power.
But the fundamentals remain.
Defence cooperation matters.
Energy matters.
Technology matters.
Mobility matters.
And, above all, strategic autonomy matters.
The India-Russia relationship has travelled a very long road, from the Soviet era to the present day.
The story is different in today's times, but the old partnership continues to have a place in India's strategic calculations.
