India, Russia aim to bolster ties in energy, military-tech

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.

- Rezaul H Laskar

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-tech, 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 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.