Putin’s India visit: Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving in New Delhi today for a state visit to India, marking the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. President Putin is expected to come to the national capital at around 6:30 PM, according to the official schedule. At this annual summit, officials from both New Delhi and Moscow are expected to discuss areas that have the potential to enhance trade partnerships through strong diplomatic ties.
According to experts, Vladimir Putin’s India visit is expected to fuel trade partnership between the two countries in defence, aerospace, oil and energy. They said that New Delhi will look forward to pushing ‘Food for Oil’ as the trade deficit between the two countries has gone up to around $60 billion, which is in favour of Moscow. India may try to persuade Moscow to increase agri imports from New Delhi under the ‘Food for Oil’ program to decrease the dependence on the US dollar and contain its current account deficit, which has gone up due to the Russian oil imports after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Top factors that may dominate Putin’s India visit
On top of the factors that may dominate the trade talks during the India-Russia Annual Summit, Saurabh Jain, Vice President— Research at SMC Global Securities, said, “The India-Russia Annual Summit is critical from both Indian and Russian perspectives as both nations are facing the ire of the US and NATO. While the US administration has imposed a 50% tariff on India for importing crude oil from Russia, NATO countries and the US government have imposed various trade barriers and sanctions on Russia. So, both countries are under stress to pare the losses incurred on their economies due to these tariffs and sanctions.”
On a key area that may dominate Putin’s India visit, Saurabh Jain said, “Defence, aerospace, rare earth metals, trade deficit between the two countries through agriculture export from India to Russia is expected to take centre stage when delegates of the two nations sit on the discussion table.”
Defence tech transfer in focus
Highlighting the importance of this Putin’s India visit, which is taking placed after a gap of nearly four years, Sandeep Pandey, Co-founder of Basav Capital, said, “Instead of the defence product deal that NATO and US does with most of their trade partners including India, Russia is expected to transfer defence technology to India, which fits in out Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’a Make In India program. In fact, the Indian government is in a mood to push for a deal in the rate of earth metal export to India, which would be a huge outcome if any deal in this regard gets sealed during Vladimir Putin’s visit to India.”
$60 billion trade deficit
Pointing towards $60 billion trade deficit in India-Russia trade, Sandeep Pandey said, “Initially, it was around $6 billion, which shot up to this alarming level due to the sharp rise in the Russian crude oil imports by India. The Indian government is expected to promote the ‘Oil for Food’ program to boost its agricultural exports to Russia in exchange for Russian oil purchases. This will contain its dependence on the US dollar and find an avenue for revenue to pare the current account deficit, which is putting pressure on the Indian National Rupee (INR).”
Two PSU stocks to benefit
On Indian companies that may benefit from this Putin’s India visit, Saurabh Jain of SMC Global Securities, said, “After the recent India-Pakistan spat during Operation Sindoor, India and Russia are expected to clinch a technology transfer deal in the aero defence segment. If this moves forward, then the defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd would be the biggest beneficiary. Likewise, in the case of a breakthrough in the rare earth metals segment, another PSU stock, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) Limited, is expected to benefit.”
Vladimir Putin’s India visit: Date, time, other details
Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving in New Delhi today on a state visit to India for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. President Putin will land in the national capital at around 6.30 PM. During the two-day stay in New Delhi, Putin will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on regional and global issues of mutual interest. He will also meet President Droupadi Murmu, in addition to paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, as per the schedule, subject to any changes.
This is President Putin’s first official trip to India since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Putin last visited India in December 2021.
Several agreements are expected to be signed, covering areas such as trade, economy, healthcare, academia, culture, and media during the Russian president’s visit to India. The broader goal of the visit is to shore up the bilateral strategic and economic partnership between the two nations, against the backdrop of a sharp downturn in India’s relations with the US.
Key Takeaways
- The trade deficit between India and Russia has surged to $60 billion, prompting discussions on the ‘Oil for Food’ initiative.
- Defense technology transfer from Russia to India may bolster the ‘Make In India’ initiative.
- Both countries are navigating economic pressures stemming from US sanctions and tariffs.
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