Valdai Club

Given the unipolar approach of Trump, India and Russia have to be the torchbearers of multipolarity. While they continue to navigate their ties with the US on an individual level, it is necessary to ensure that this does not affect Indo-Russian bilateral ties, writes Pravesh Kumar Gupta.

The nature of Russian-Indian relations and their dynamics have perplexed both domestic and foreign researchers for decades. Even during Soviet times, India seemed, to put it mildly, an unlikely partner: although Jawaharlal Nehru and later Indira Gandhi declared their commitment to Fabian socialism, the Indian economic and political model bore little resemblance to the Soviet one. India always pursued a unique course, attempting to simultaneously maintain good relations with both the USSR and the United States. It avoided involvement in the Cold War, and always prioritised domestic development, sometimes ignoring the foreign policy opportunities afforded by the global political situation.

The Russia–India–China (RIC) framework is neither obsolete nor transformative. Its value is limited but real: it keeps channels open and enables selective, low-cost coordination among three Eurasian powers in a fragmented order. With realistic expectations, RIC can function as a pragmatic stabiliser; burdened with grand ambitions, it will likely disappoint and expose the fractures it cannot resolve, Nong Hong writes.

This paper analyses the dynamics of Russia’s technological cooperation with India. Its aim is to demonstrate how historical cooperation modalities, market structure, institutional and macroeconomic factors, as well as business culture come together to shape present-day constraints and windows of opportunity in Russia-India cooperation, and what this means for Russian companies and the corresponding institutions for supporting businesses in the technology sector.

Russia and India have to rely on themselves and their time-tested bilateral relations, as well as on the continued development of associations such as BRICS and the SCO. Both countries can do much together to address security challenges in Eurasia and beyond. They will likely have to exercise strategic patience again—a quality they both possess in abundance, write Andrey Bystritskiy and Ivan Timofeev.

The collapse of the old world order has accelerated into an avalanche. Hence, right here and right now—in our day and age—some new, as yet unexplored, world is taking shape. And if we wish to exert any influence on the process of its formation, we cannot afford to hesitate. We must act. Otherwise, what emerges may be something we find deeply unappealing.