New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) India and Russia recently reviewed their bilateral ties during the second international conference ‘Russia and India: Towards a New Agenda for Bilateral Relations’ and emphasised the steps required for sustaining policy measures in the coming years. The two nations agreed to contribute to further strengthening cooperation and to deepen mutual understanding in moving ahead into the future, a report has detailed.

“Held under the auspices of the Russian International Affairs Council, a non-government organisation specialising in Russia’s policy with the external countries, it brought together representatives of Russian and Indian academic, expert, and diplomatic communities for a substantive discussion of key bilateral issues and an exchange of views on pressing regional and international matters,” a report in Modern Diplomacy stated.

“Themes dominating the discussions included policy perspectives in the context of radical transformation, especially the United States-Israeli war with Iran in the Middle East and its global implications; the impact on economic architecture; and possible measures that are needed to adopt in order to maintain some level of security stability with support from geopolitical compatriots,” it added.

India and Russia have forged cooperation across various sectors and operate mutually in a number of associations, including BRICS-plus. The meeting demonstrates that strategic partnership with India is among the unconditional foreign policy priorities of Russia.

According to the Modern Diplomacy report, India is getting utmost respect due to its independent foreign policy and its prioritisation of national interests. As a result, India’s influence in the emerging multipolar world continues to rise as one of the leading global political and economic centers, a distinct civilisation, and a great power of the 21st century.

It mentioned that the friendship between India and Russia is a model of how ties between two nations should be built on equality, mutual trust and respect, and due regard for each other’s interests. The alignment of strategic objectives of Russia and India were reaffirmed following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi in 2025. The Kremlin is now looking forward to welcoming PM Modi in 2026. In 2025, bilateral trade between India and Russia reached approximately USD 60 billion and the leaders of two nations have reaffirmed the goal of reaching USD 100 billion by 2030.

“Both have close foreign policy coordination, which has major significance amid current geopolitical turbulence, including the acute military and political crisis in the Persian Gulf, provoked by the United States and Israel. Moscow and New Delhi are committed to the democratization of international relations on the basis of universally recognized norms of international law, above all the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety, interconnection, and indivisibility,” the report detailed.

The two nations cooperate in multilateral formats like United Nations, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the G20. This year, India holds the BRICS chairmanship and Russia stands ready to provide support to India throughout its chairmanship.

“In mutual summary, the implementation of the extensive and multifaceted Russian-Indian agenda requires expert and analytical support for the efforts of foreign ministries, other government bodies, and the business community. At the end of the meeting, both sincerely pledged to contribute to further strengthening cooperation between Russia and India and to deepening mutual understanding in moving ahead into the future,” it mentioned.

–IANS

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