NEW DELHI: India and Russia on Wednesday agreed to explore ways to expand the export of Russian energy, including oil and coal, to Indian markets as external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Sergey Lavrov charted a course for future cooperation between the two countries.
Jaishankar, who is on a five-day visit to Russia, met Lavrov for a sweeping review of bilateral relations, including cooperation in energy and military-technical matters, following his talks on Tuesday with deputy prime minister Denis Manturov that largely focused on trade and investment.
Despite pressure from the US and its European partners following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India ramped up purchases of Russian energy and other commodities such as fertilisers. The Indian side has consistently called for the end of hostilities in Ukraine but has refrained from publicly criticising Russia’s actions.
Following his talks with Jaishankar, Lavrov described energy cooperation as a “strategic area” of the overall relationship that Russia intends to strengthen. He told a joint news conference: “We agreed on the expansion of the exports of Russian hydrocarbons to the Indian market as well as the cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
Jaishankar described Russian supplies of energy, coking coal and fertilisers as “very big components” of bilateral trade and said the two sides had talked about long-term arrangements for these commodities. “How do we reach long-term arrangements in that regard was a big part of our discussion,” he said.
India has a “very substantial” energy relationship with Russia in terms of investments in Russian oil and gas, “which we are seeking to expand”, Jaishankar said. The two sides are also looking to expand cooperation in nuclear energy. “Yesterday [Tuesday], we signed two important amendments which will take the Kudankulam nuclear power project forward,” he added.
On Tuesday, India and Russia signed agreements to move forward with future units of the Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu, which will have six reactors with a capacity of 1,000 MW each. The first two reactors became operational in 2014 and 2016 and work is underway on two more. Both sides haven’t offered details of the agreements though people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that they are related to the fifth and sixth reactors, construction of which began in 2021.
Despite India’s agreements with the US and France on civil nuclear cooperation, Russia is currently the only country building atomic reactors in India. Lavrov described Russia’s involvement in this sphere as “our practical contribution to India’s activities and work to satisfy its national needs for clean and safe energy”.
The two sides also discussed prospects for cooperation in piloted space programmes, rocket engines, satellite navigation systems and military hardware. Lavrov said Russia is “respectful” of India’s aspiration to diversify its “military and technical links” and is ready to support efforts to produce military equipment under the “Make in India” initiative.
More than 60% of the equipment and weapons systems used by India’s armed forces continue to be of Russian origin, though New Delhi has stepped up efforts in recent years to acquire more Western platforms such as submarines, long-range transport aircraft and helicopters.
The Ukraine conflict and the situation in Gaza, Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific also figured in the meeting between Jaishankar and Lavrov. India’s position on the issue of Ukraine reflects its “responsible approach towards regional and global issues” based primarily on national interests and the interests of fair international cooperation, Lavrov said.
India and Russia have a shared interest in Eurasia and surrounding waters to seek solutions that “would not provoke any confrontational approaches which are sometimes brought to the region from the outside”, Lavrov said.
The two sides further discussed ways to bolster trade and connectivity, including the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), establishing the Chennai-Vladivostok sea route and cooperation in exploring the northern polar sea route. They also talked about cooperation in Russia’s Far East and at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (Brics) grouping. The Russian side reiterated its support for India’s permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council.
Responding to a question on the Western perception that India’s relationship with Russia is a handicap, Jaishankar said Moscow is a very valued and time-tested partner for New Delhi.
“It’s a relationship from which both India and Russia have benefited enormously. My presence here today and…all the developments I have pointed out, including our growing trade, investments, military-technical cooperation and connectivity projects, I think all of this will give you a good sense of really the importance and the value that we attach to the relationship,” he said.
Lavrov, in his opening remarks, said: “Our cooperation is of a strategic nature, strengthening it corresponds to the national interests of our states [and] the interests of maintaining security in the Eurasian continent.”
Jaishankar’s visit assumed greater significance as India and Russia could not hold their annual leaders’ summit for the second consecutive year. Responding to a question on this issue, Jaishankar said this year’s annual meetings could not be held because of India’s G20 presidency and “certain preoccupations”. He added, “But I’m very confident that we will see an annual summit next year.”
The external affairs minister also reiterated India’s concerns about the imbalance in trade with Russia, which rose to $50 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow further this year because New Delhi purchases Russian energy.
“Today, we appreciate the fact that our trade is at an all-time high. We crossed $50 billion turnover last year. We expect to exceed that this year and what is important is that this trade is more balanced, sustainable and provides for fair market access,” he said.
