As India laid out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a remarkable piece of the historically robust bilateral relations has been their extensive and diverse joint statement at the end of the 23rd annual summit.  While defense cooperation remains a cornerstone of the India-Russia relationship, the two countries have clearly decided to diversify in the realms of trade and commerce, civil nuclear and space, energy, transport, science and technology, and even film production and labour mobility.

Beyond the pomp and circumstance of Putin being hosted for a grand reception ceremony on the forecourt of the presidential palace or Rashtrapati Bhavan during the day on Friday and a state dinner in the evening, the 70-point joint statement has clearly been crafted to underscore nearly eight decades-long close relationship between India and Russia.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between India and Russia, established during Putin’s visit to India in October 2000.

The joint statement said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin “emphasized the special nature of this long standing and time-tested relationship, which is characterized by mutual trust, respect for each other’s core national interests and strategic convergence.”

'North Star' Of Friendship

During a press briefing, during which they took no questions from the media, Modi referred to Putin at least twice as his friend and said, “His visit comes at a time when our bilateral relations are going past several historic milestones. Twenty-five years ago, President Putin laid the foundation of our strategic partnership. Ten years ago, it was upgraded to a special and privileged partnership. In the last 80 years the world has gone through many ups and downs, but India-Russia friendship has remained like the North Star.”

On the economic front, the joint statement pointed out the adoption of the Program for the Development of Strategic Areas of India - Russia Economic Cooperation till 2030 under which the two countries will increase their trade and commerce engagement. A target of $100 billion in bilateral trade has been set by 2030 from the current $60 billion. There has been intensification in evolving a Free Trade Agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union.

Interestingly, the two countries have also signed agreements related to the mobility of skilled workers. These agreements will encourage Indian workers - facing unemployment in the country - to seek job opportunities in Russia.

As part of agreements related to energy, the two sides confirmed “their intention to broaden cooperation in nuclear energy, including fuel cycle, life cycle support for operating Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) and non-power applications, as well as to elaborate new agenda of interaction in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy and related high technologies.”This is in keeping with India’s plan to increase India’s nuclear energy capacity to 100 GW by 2047.

Independence From Geopolitical Blocs

The visit has also proved crucial for Putin in terms of international optics where the world’s largest democracy and its prime minister offered sanguine words to him. Although pomp and circumstance often attend such visits, it is not inconceivable that some of that was aimed at sending a signal to President Donald Trump, particularly on the question of his pressure on Modi to altogether stop importing Russian oil as well as a punitive 25% tariff on New Delhi in response to that.

It is possible that Putin’s India visit, while understood in Europe and the United States against the backdrop of its historic depth, could equally trouble them in so much as New Delhi continues to assert its independence from geopolitical pressures with its much-vaunted strategic autonomy in its foreign policy.

(The writer is a Chicago-based journalist, author and commentator. Views expressed are personal. He can be reached mcsix@outlook.com)