New Delhi and Russia have maintained close links since the Cold War, which saw the Kremlin become a key arms provider to the country.
But Ukraine has stretched Russia’s weapons supplies thin, pushing India to look for other sources for arms – including growing its own defence industry.
Russia’s share of Indian imports of arms has shrunk considerably in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
At the same time, India has become a major purchaser of Russian crude, providing a much-needed export market for Russia after it was dropped by traditional buyers in Europe.
That has dramatically reconfigured their economic ties, with India saving itself billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow’s war coffers.
India’s month-on-month imports of Russian crude “increased by eight percent in May, to the highest levels since July 2023”, according to commodity tracking data compiled by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
But this has also resulted in India’s trade deficit with Russia rising to a little over US$57 billion in the past financial year.
From Russia, Modi will travel to Vienna for the first visit to the Austrian capital by an Indian leader since Indira Gandhi in 1983.
