Intergovernmental Commission as the central institution of economic cooperation between Russia and India

In previous articles, we described the historical prerequisites of Russian-Indian economic cooperation, transition to a new model, promising directions, and problematic aspects of cooperation. However, the role of such an institution as the Intergovernmental Commission is often underestimated in all cooperation processes.

The Intergovernmental Commission (hereinafter referred to as the IGC) is a body consisting of representatives of two states, established to coordinate and resolve issues arising within the framework of bilateral cooperation. Commissions are an important tool in international politics and economics, serving to ensure systematic interaction between states entering into agreements at the international level.

An important part of the IGC's work is facilitating the implementation of joint projects, which, in turn, stimulates the development of infrastructure, innovative technologies, and the expansion of mutual investments. Advanced projects in the partner country can be implemented not only by state contractors but also by interested private companies. Often, in such situations, a company may not have the necessary administrative resources, which can be raised as a topic for discussion at the IGC.

Another key task of the IGC is resolving possible trade issues. Mutual economic interests of countries may clash, and in such cases, commissions help find compromise solutions, avoiding political escalation of the conflict. For example, commissions assist in matters of import-export balance, customs barriers, quotas, and tariffs. Additionally, separate working groups operating within the IGC can be created for the most relevant topics.

IGCs act as a catalyst for the development and multilateral implementation of comprehensive interstate initiatives aimed at systematically enhancing the production and infrastructure potential of partner jurisdictions. These initiatives may include capital-intensive infrastructure projects, the creation of transnational production clusters, the institutionalization of joint research centers, and bilateral technology transfer programs.

The establishment of the Russia-India IGC as a substantive unit of permanent bilateral interaction resulted from a legal document in the form of an interstate cooperation agreement dated May 4, 1992 (Agreement Between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of India on the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation: signed on May 4, 1992. – Text: electronic // Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. – URL: www.mid.ru/en/foreign_po... (March 15, 2025).), and it has the status of a formalized intergovernmental agreement with legal and procedural validity and subjectivity in the international regulatory system. The highest level of institutional representation is ensured by figures with political and administrative powers: on the Russian side — First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation D.V. Manturov (appointment confirmed by распоряжение № 2196-r dated August 9, 2022), and on the Indian side — Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, serving as co-chair since 2019.

Resource and content support for the administrative cycle is carried out by specialized functional units acting as operational secretariats — the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the Ministry of External Affairs of India. The middle management segment is represented by deputy chairpersons of the commission, acting as execution coordinators, with a mandate to implement the project agenda within institutionally approved regulations.

The program functionality of the IGC, being inherently multisectoral and multi-partner, covers the widest range of cooperative partnerships: from trade and economic integration and investment interfacing to transfers in scientific, technical, and cultural dimensions, including, in the future, the development of digital ecosystems and energy alliances. At the same time, the key feature of this institution is not so much the breadth of the agenda as the presence of a systemic architecture of the mechanism and institutional coordination of directions.

The functions of the commission can be divided into:

• strategic functions, including the formation of program roadmaps, aggregation of initiatives, and institutional facilitation of legislative implementation;
• operational functions, which include the elaboration of project solutions, establishment of сквозных communication channels between ministries, and ensuring monitoring of the implementation of resolution points.

Thus, the IGC functions as a multilevel process cluster with pronounced properties of flexibility and consistent response to political and economic transformations.

The managerial architecture of the IGC is based on a special decision-making model that corresponds to best practices in public administration. Meetings are typically held within an annual planning and forecasting cycle, accompanied by documentary recording of agreements in the form of protocol acts containing points and implementation milestones.

To ensure prompt response to foreign policy challenges, a mechanism for rotating the agenda and forming ad hoc working groups is provided — a flexible management module that allows integrating emergency initiatives into the existing institutional framework without violating the procedural integrity of the system (Review of Economic Cooperation between Russia and India / Text: electronic // Indian Embassy. – 2020. – URL: indianembassy-moscow.gov.in/... (accessed: March 25, 2025).).

The IGC, as an institutional interaction tool, acts as a systemic catalyst for sustainable geopolitical partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India, where the fulfillment of common interests is realized not only on the basis of historical and political coherence but also through the lens of a shared commitment to forming a multipolar world order and economic sovereignty.

Given the growing volatility of global trade chains and institutional risks of sanctions pressure, the significance of the IGC as a compensatory mechanism is increasing. This mechanism is capable of ensuring stability and resistance to external destabilizing factors through the creation and implementation of forms of cooperation at the institutionalized level — from energy alliances to the introduction of settlements in non-convertible currencies.

Despite the high degree of institutional maturity, the IGC is not immune from challenges stemming from internal limitations of the management model. These include:

• the need to intensify horizontal communications within expert clusters;
• elimination of barriers slowing down the lifecycle of project solutions;
• institutionalization of the digital environment as a channel for content and regulatory interaction;
• creation of a meta-monitoring system providing end-to-end evaluation of the effectiveness of decisions.

The further development of the IGC should be сопряжено with the introduction of hybrid digital platforms, наращивание of institutional subjectivity of project divisions, and strategic involvement of the private sector and the scientific-expert community to create a widespread effect of sustainable development.