Russian President Vladimir Putin is
in New Delhi for a two-day State visit.
The visit, Putin’s first in four years, has triggered one of the most expansive discussions on defence cooperation between India and Russia in recent years.
The Russian leader touched down in New Delhi on Thursday evening, accompanied by a senior ministerial delegation. The group includes Russia’s defence, finance, agriculture, economic development, health, interior, and transport ministers.
Shortly after landing, Putin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport and the duo went ahead for a private dinner.
Their meeting comes after a year of five phone conversations and a face-to-face interaction at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin earlier this year.
The second day of Putin’s visit is structured around a series of high-level engagements: a ceremonial meeting with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a visit to Rajghat to honour Mahatma Gandhi, and extensive conversations at Hyderabad House.
Modi will also host a lunch for the Russian delegation, following which the two sides will hold a series of formal discussions across various sectors. The visit will conclude with a state banquet before Putin departs for Moscow.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov noted beforehand that Modi and Putin would hold “regular and confidential” discussions covering multiple areas — defence, technology, finance, energy, education, transportation and cultural cooperation.
Bilateral trade, projected to reach USD 63.6 billion this year, is expected to receive renewed focus, particularly as India continues to express concern over the widening trade imbalance in Russia’s favour.
Both sides are preparing to sign the Programme for the Development of Strategic Areas of Russian-Indian Economic Cooperation until 2030, alongside agreements in energy, agriculture, health and media cooperation.
Despite this broad agenda, defence matters clearly dominate the visit, with substantial attention on air defence systems, fighter jet collaboration, missile programmes and long-term technological partnerships.
How Russia’s S-400 & S-500 will aid India
New Delhi’s interest in strengthening its long-range air defence capability has grown steadily since the mid-2010s, driven by threats from neighbouring adversaries and the need to modernise systems that were rapidly becoming outdated.
India began earnest negotiations with Russia around 2015 for a robust missile shield, ultimately leading to the 2018 signing of a USD 5.43-billion agreement with Moscow for five S-400 regiments.
The deal was reached despite considerable pressure from the United States, which warned India about possible sanctions under its CAATSA legislation.
Nevertheless, New Delhi proceeded, reasoning that no alternative system available at the time could match the capability, range or independence from political constraints that the S-400 offered.
Three of the five contracted S-400 regiments have already been deployed across strategically important locations in India, while the remaining two are expected to arrive between 2025 and 2027.
The system’s utility was demonstrated earlier this year during Operation Sindoor, when it enabled a long-range strike exceeding 300 km against targets inside Pakistan, reaffirming its deterrent power.
Indian defence officials argue that such precise, deep-range engagement capabilities have not been offered by Western suppliers without operational strings attached.
Given these considerations, India is now preparing to request an additional stock of 300 interceptor missiles for its existing S-400 units. New Delhi is also evaluating whether it should acquire five more S-400 squadrons in the coming years.
Parallel to these discussions, the S-500 system — Russia’s newest long-range air and missile defence platform — has emerged as another major point of interest.
The S-500 is designed to intercept an array of advanced threats, ranging from hypersonic glide vehicles to ballistic missiles, stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and even certain classes of low-Earth orbit satellites.
A team of experts from the Indian Air Force and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has already visited Russia to study the platform closely.
Moscow has indicated its willingness to engage extensively on technology transfer, including the potential for Indian factories to manufacture launch vehicles, command posts and radar units under a joint production arrangement.
Such an offer aligns strongly with India’s Make in India initiative, which emphasises domestic manufacturing and technological self-reliance in defence production. However, the S-500 remains a sensitive technology, and discussions are expected to remain exploratory for now.
Any eventual agreement would represent a major strategic leap in India’s missile defence capabilities, potentially making India one of the few nations with access to such advanced systems.
India’s concerns about the reliability of Russian supply chains will certainly shape these negotiations. Western sanctions on Moscow have disrupted logistics, slowed deliveries and complicated spare-parts transport for systems already in India’s inventory.
Delays with the S-400 delivery schedule and other platforms have affected the maintenance of several Russian-origin systems across the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.
For this reason,
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov is expected to focus heavily on securing firmer timelines for contracted equipment, streamlined logistics, and improved after-sales support.
How Su-57 stealth fighter jets will aid India
The Indian Air Force is currently grappling with a shortage of fighter aircraft, having fallen below the sanctioned squadron strength required for simultaneous operations against China and Pakistan.
While India is developing its own fifth-generation fighter — the AMCA — the project remains several years away from entering service, making the search for an interim solution increasingly urgent.
Russia has openly confirmed that discussions on the Su-57, Russia’s most advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter, will take place during Putin’s visit.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated earlier, “I have no doubt it will be discussed during the visit. The issue of Su-57s certainly will be on the agenda during the coming Putin visit to India.”
India had previously participated in the joint Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme, which was based on the Su-57 platform. Therefore, the possibility of revisiting technological cooperation — particularly in areas aligned with the Indian Air Force’s long-term requirements — is now being reconsidered.
Indian Air Force
reportedly operates over 200 Russian-origin jets, including the Su-30MKI, which forms the backbone of its combat fleet. Given this familiarity, Indian crews would require minimal adaptation to transition to a next-generation Russian aircraft.
Long-range air-to-air missile capabilities associated with the Su-57 are also viewed as a significant advantage.
India’s Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh stated that cooperation between the two nations “is a long-standing one and the nation does not intend to stop any time soon.” He also emphasised that India will continue procuring defence systems from both Russia and the United States.
Although the Su-57 discussions are expected to be substantial, government sources indicate that major procurement decisions are unlikely to be concluded before Putin’s departure.
How upgraded BrahMos proposals will aid India
The BrahMos missile — jointly developed by India and Russia — has long been one of the most visible symbols of their defence cooperation.
Its effectiveness was demonstrated again during Operation Sindoor, when Indian forces used the system to target terror infrastructure and key military locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
During the visit, Modi and Putin are expected to discuss an advanced iteration of this missile, popularly known as the BrahMos-NG (Next Generation).
The upgraded version is envisioned to be lighter, more versatile, and suitable for deployment on a wider range of platforms, including fighter aircraft that cannot carry the current BrahMos due to weight constraints.
Given the missile’s proven track record and the shifting threat landscape, the BrahMos-NG is seen as a system that could dramatically expand India’s strike capabilities.
What next for India-Russia defence cooperation
Beyond missile development, the broader review of India-Russia defence cooperation will assess joint production initiatives, spare-parts supply, Make in India opportunities and how both sides can reinvigorate long-term industrial partnerships.
Putin’s visit unfolds at a time when India’s foreign policy requires delicate balancing. On one hand, India continues to maintain strong ties with Russia, including significant purchases of discounted oil and long-standing cooperation across defence and energy sectors.
On the other, New Delhi has invested heavily in partnerships with the United States, France and other Western countries to diversify defence supplies and overcome overdependence on a single source.
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute,
Russia remains India’s largest arms supplier.
New Delhi has also resisted external pressure to take sides in the Ukraine conflict, repeatedly urging Moscow and Kyiv to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue.
Discussions between Modi and Putin during the visit are expected to cover the Ukraine situation.
Despite India’s diversification, Russia continues to offer unique advantages in certain sectors — such as missile technology, submarine development, air defence systems and heavy fighter aircraft — where Western nations remain more cautious about full technology transfer.
For Moscow, India remains one of the most important Asian defence partners, especially as Russia faces economic and political isolation in the West.
With inputs from agencies
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