Promising Key Directions of Economic Cooperation Between Russia and India

Against the backdrop of intensifying global geo-economic shifts and the transformation of the world economic architecture due to unprecedented sanctions pressure from the consolidated West against the Russian Federation, there is a trend toward institutional and conceptual convergence in the foreign policy and economic paradigms of the Russian Federation and the Republic of India. This includes their shared perception of multipolarity as a foundational principle of the modern international order. Ironically, it is the paradoxical effects of the sanctions shock that have actualized and accelerated the activation of Russian-Indian trade and investment interaction, necessitating a strategic reassessment of priorities in bilateral economic cooperation.

The most indicative projects from the Russian side, in terms of strategic focus and multiplier effect, include:

• the establishment of an automotive assembly line for KAMAZ vehicles by the Indian company "KamAZ Motors Limited" KamAZ began conquering the global market from India / Text : electronic // Vechernyaya Kazan. – 2011. – URL: https://www.evening-kazan.ru/... (accessed: 20.02.2025).;
• the promotion of aviation products, including the regional Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner produced by JSC "UAC," in the Indian domestic market The first prototype of the import-substituted Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft reached its practical flight ceiling / Text : electronic // Voennoe Obozrenie. – 2025. – URL: https://topwar.ru/... (accessed: 20.04.2025).;
• the joint development of mineral resources at the Verkhnekamsk potassium-magnesium salt deposit (Talitsky site, Perm Krai) in partnership with JSC "Acron" The Acron Group signed a contract with Indian IPL for the supply of 200,000 tons of complex NPK fertilizers by the end of 2010 / Text : electronic // RBC. – 2010. – URL: https://www.rbc.ru/... (accessed: 20.04.2025).;
• the development of the Partomchorr apatite-nepheline deposit in the Murmansk region, also in cooperation with "Acron" Russia and India will support Acron's potash project and a "smart city" initiative by AFK Sistema / Text : electronic // TASS. – 2014. – URL: https://tass.ru/... (accessed: 20.04.2025).;
• the design and subsequent implementation of a "smart city" concept on Indian territory, based on developments and investments from AFK Sistema The owners of MTS left India, losing $4.5 billion in investments / Text : electronic // CNews. – 2018. – URL: https://www.cnews.ru/... (accessed: 20.02.2025)..

According to initiatives from the Indian side, the focus has been on integration into the federal target program "Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry of the Russian Federation until 2020 and Beyond." Additionally, representatives of India's chemical industry have proposed establishing a joint venture for the sustainable production and supply of phosphorus fertilizers and urea, as well as launching a production line for dinitrogen tetroxide (N₂O₄) at the facilities of Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. for India's space program Stankevich L. V. Historical aspects of the development of Russian-Indian economic cooperation / L.V. Stankevich. – Text : electronic // Novy Universitet. – Series "Economics and Law." – 2015. – No. 12 (58). – URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/... (accessed: 16.03.2025)..

There is also a growing emphasis on deepening cooperation in the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors, with a priority on localizing production cycles and developing innovative pharmacological solutions.

In particular, ahead of the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Moscow, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), acting as a sovereign institutional investor, verified the conclusion of a strategic agreement with Indian industrial operator Poly Medicure Limited (Polymed), specializing in high-tech medical devices. The scope of this agreement covers the implementation of an investment project to institutionalize and industrially adapt production infrastructure for manufacturing medical products for extracorporeal detoxification procedures (hemodialysis) in the Russian Federation, with total investments equivalent to 3 billion rubles India and Russia intend to develop cooperation in drug development / Text : electronic // Farmatsevticheskiy Vestnik. – 2024. – URL: https://pharmvestnik.ru/... (accessed: 16.03.2025)..

Simultaneously, within the framework of a policy document on strategic Russian-Indian economic partnership with a planning horizon until 2030, one of the priority areas is the development of cooperative mechanisms in pharmaceutical development, indicating a shift in the bilateral agenda toward knowledge-intensive and technologically advanced forms of interaction.

From a spatial-logistical perspective, the implementation and scaling of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is of strategic importance. This multimodal transport artery, spanning over 7,200 km, reduces logistics costs by ~30% and halves transit time compared to the traditional route via the Suez Canal. The agreement signed in 2020 between JSC "Russian Railways" and Indian CONCOR laid the foundation for institutionalizing logistical cooperation. Key areas of analysis include the supply of agricultural products, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, mineral fertilizers, and textiles.

In addition to land-based logistics infrastructure, the potential revitalization of the maritime route Vladivostok–Chennai, which operated in a limited capacity in the late 1960s, is under consideration. Modern estimates suggest a potential reduction in delivery time to 24 days. This route could serve as an alternative channel for hydrocarbon transportation, particularly given the limited refining infrastructure on India's eastern coast. However, the seasonal accessibility of Arctic waters and the limitations of eastern LNG terminals require further technical and economic justification.

Thus, against the backdrop of the current multi-vector geopolitical reorganization and the need for national economies to adapt to new configurations of global value chains, cooperation between Russia and India is not only of pragmatic economic importance but also serves as a cornerstone of long-term sustainable development and the strengthening of systemic stability across Eurasia.