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During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Indian-Russian economic and diplomatic ties saw significant growth, occurring in contrast to Western condemnation of and sanctions on Russia and unilateral support for Ukraine with humanitarian and military aid. India's circumvention of Western sanctions to purchase heavily discounted Russian oil and fertilizer, its supply of dual-use technology to Russia, and its repeated abstentions from condemning Russia's invasion negatively impacted Ukrainian ties to India, and complicated Western diplomatic interactions with India.

Trade

After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and because of international sanctions against Russia, it started to provide oil and chemical fertilisers at discounted rate to India, increasing India-Russia bilateral trade volume from $13 billion to $27 billion within 2022 making it largest oil and fertiliser supplier to India. During 2022-23, India became one of the largest trade partners of Russia, primarily through the purchase of Russian oil. In August 2024, India became the largest importer of Russian oil, overtaking China.

In December 2023, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over a five-day visit, praising the two countries' "all-time high" trading volume, praising the trade as "balanced", "sustainable" and providing "fair market access".

On December 12, 2024, Russian state oil company Rosneft agreed to supply nearly 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Indian private refiner Reliance, the largest oil supply deal between the two countries in their trade history.

Technology

In September 2024, it was revealed that the Russian Federation had been covertly purchasing components for its arms industry from India. In October 2022, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is responsible for national defense production, developed confidential plans to spend about 82 billion rupees (about US$1 billion) on the purchase of critical electronic components through channels in India that were hidden from Western governments. Customs records indicated that India also supplied electronic equipment to the Russian Federation which including UAVs and components for radio-electronic systems.

In October 2024, it became known that India has increased exports of critical sanctioned technologies to Russia, according to information from Bloomberg. The volume of Indian exports of goods subject to restrictions (including integrated circuits and machine tools) to Russia exceeded $60 million per month in April and May, twice as much as in previous months of 2024. In July, this amount reached $95 million, becoming the second-largest volume of such exports, surpassed only by China.

According to information from Bloomberg in October 2024, India played a key role as an intermediary in supplying Russia with powerful AI technologies, despite Western sanctions. The key suppliers included the Indian companies Shreya Life Sciences and Hayers Infotech Private Limited, and also included suppliers from Malaysia. Between April and August 2024, Shreya Life Sciences exported 1,111 Dell PowerEdge XE9680 servers with Nvidia processors designed for artificial intelligence to Russia. Russian company Main Chain, which was not under Western sanctions at the time of the transfers, was the recipient through which the high-tech products were distributed to Russia. The value of these deliveries was estimated at $300 million. In total, since February 2022, Shreya and Hayers had supplied Russia with high-tech products worth $434 million. Despite the exports falling under concurrent Western sanctions due to their potential for military use, India maintained active business with Russia due to it not joining United States and European Union sanctions against Moscow.

From March to August 2024, India imported more than 1,400 Dell PowerEdge XE9680 servers from Malaysia through Dell International Services India Private Ltd. and the Singapore branch of Dell Global BV. Following the imports, the servers were resold to Russia, which indicated that sanctions were circumvented with the help of international intermediaries.

Military

Participation of Indian citizens in the invasion of Ukraine

On March 8, 2024, India announced the dismantling of a “vast human trafficking network” that promised young people jobs in Russia and lured them into its war against Ukraine. At least two men who had gone to Russia hoping to work as “helpers” in the army died on the front lines, their families said. The Indian embassy in Russia confirmed one of the deaths. Several others were also seriously injured. The criminal case states that some of the men were also offered admission to “dubious private universities” in the Russian Federation along with “free visa extensions at a discount.” It added that the Indian citizens were sent to the front lines “against their wishes”.

Military cooperation

In 2023, Russia and India planned to hold several joint military exercises in the Southern Military District as part of the Indra military project, which was first implemented back in 2003.

On 19 September 2024, it was announced that the Indian government planned to jointly modernize and export its fleet of T-72 tanks, which numbered about 2,500 vehicles, with Russia. The modernization of the vehicles will involve joint efforts by Indian defense manufacturers and Russian technology suppliers.

Diplomacy

In March 2024, the Indian government congratulated Vladimir Putin on his re-election in the 2024 Russian presidential election.

In June 2024, President Putin congratulated Narendra Modi on his re-election in the 2024 Indian general election in a telephone call, where both leaders expressed intent on further building upon the India-Russia Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership "in all areas".

In July 2024, Prime Minister Modi visited Moscow to meet Putin, his first visit to Russia in five years. The two embraced as Modi climbed out of his car; this act was criticized by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as it happened on the same day that Russian missiles struck a children's hospital in Kyiv. During the visit, the two countries discussed nine strategic areas for closer economic cooperation, including nuclear energy and medicine, with a goal to significantly improve bilateral trade by 2030.

Reactions

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized India for profiting from buying cheap Russian oil. On 29 December 2022, following the Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Kuleba tweeted, "There can be no ‘neutrality’ in the face of such mass war crimes. Pretending to be ‘neutral’ equals taking Russia’s side."

In March 2024, Dmytro Kuleba said on a visit to India that the country should be concerned about Russia’s deepening ties with China. He declared that “the co-operation between India and Russia is largely based on the Soviet legacy. But this is not the legacy that will be kept for centuries; it is a legacy that is evaporating.” Kuleba emphasized that Ukraine is interested in restoring trade with India and that Indian companies are welcome to participate in the recovery of the country.

In June 2024, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin as a "huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts". The two embraced as Modi climbed out of his car; this act was criticized by Zelenskyy as it happened on the same day that Russian missiles struck a children's hospital in Kyiv.

See also

• India–Russia relations
• India–Ukraine relations

References

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