Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day state visit to India beginning Thursday will see bilateral defence cooperation advance further, with the possible supply to New Delhi of Russian Su-57 stealth jets and additional S-400 air defence units — used during Operation Sindoor — expected on the agenda. Russia is also being considered a partner for expanded co-production of military hardware, despite its share in India’s arms imports halving over the past 15 years, while it remains the country’s largest supplier.
President Putin is visiting India for the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The issue of [Sukhoi] Su-57s certainly will be on the agenda during the coming visit,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday at an online press briefing organised by Russia’s Sputnik News, in response to a question on whether Russia had made any offer to India for supplying the stealth jets. However, these are understood to be exploratory talks, with an agreement unlikely to be formalised during the current visit.
Russia has been exploring the possibility of manufacturing the stealth fighter jets in India, and, according to sources, at least one team has visited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL’s) Aircraft Manufacturing Division in Nashik to assess feasibility. The Nashik facility also carries out repair and overhaul of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) Russian-origin Su-30MKI combat aircraft, and has previously produced nearly 1,000 Soviet- and Russian-origin jets under licence — 575 MiG-21s, 270 Su-30MKIs, and 125 MiG-27s.
Peskov said the supply of additional S-400 air defence systems would also be discussed during the visit. “This issue is highly on the agenda, and I have no doubt it will be discussed during the visit… I have no doubt that it will be mentioned also on the highest level,” he said in response to a question. In an apparent bid to address concerns about Russia’s capacity to deliver military equipment to export customers, he added that the country’s military industry has increased production over the past four years, not only to meet the needs of its own armed forces but also to sustain exports. “We are interested in continuation of cooperation [with India] in this very sensitive field… The share of Russian arms in the military forces of India is about 36 per cent. Hopefully we will not only continue, but also enlarge cooperation in this field,” he said.
At a defence conclave on November 28, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh noted that delays in the delivery of military equipment were not confined to domestic manufacturers, citing the delayed S-400 shipments due to the conflict in Ukraine as an example. Speaking later that day at a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) event, Singh described India’s defence cooperation with Russia as long-standing, saying, “We are not going to stop our defence cooperation with them anytime soon.” He stressed, however, that India follows a policy of strategic autonomy under which it procures equipment according to its needs from both Russia and the United States (US), with the objective of diversifying its sources of supply. Singh added that maintenance and support for the significant volume of Russian legacy equipment operated by the Indian armed forces, as well as the remaining S-400 air defence systems yet to be delivered, would be on the agenda during President Putin’s visit.
India procured the S-400 under a 2018 deal valued at about Rs 40,300 crore. Although all five squadrons were originally slated for delivery by end-2023, the delivery of two remains pending. The S-400 was employed during Operation Sindoor, conducted from May 7 to May 10, with the IAF stating that there was clear evidence of a long-range surface-to-air missile strike that hit either a Pakistani airborne early warning and control aircraft or a signals intelligence aircraft at a distance of more than 300 kilometres — the longest such strike ever recorded by the IAF.
Military jet engines — a critical gap in India’s capabilities — could be another area of cooperation between India and Russia. On Tuesday, responding to a question on whether Russia would transfer related technology to India, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said, “There are negotiations.” He also noted that Russia was transferring a substantial amount of technology and launching joint production projects in India. While acknowledging that certain technologies cannot be transferred, he stressed that whatever can be shared with India will be shared. “We are interested in that, and we know that our Indian partners are interested in that as well.”
Moscow’s push to reinforce its defence engagements comes amid a sharp fall in its share of New Delhi’s arms imports. According to a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) report released in March, Russia accounted for 36 per cent of India’s major arms imports during 2020–24, which was still the largest share but down from 55 per cent in 2015–19 and 72 per cent in 2010–14. “India is shifting its arms supply relations toward Western suppliers, most notably France, Israel, and the US,” the report noted. Identifying India as the world’s second-largest importer of major arms after Ukraine, it added that most of New Delhi’s new and planned orders would come from Western suppliers.
The US government, particularly during Donald Trump’s second presidency, has been urging India to scale back its purchases of Russian-origin defence equipment. While India has clearly diversified its supplier base, defence sources have indicated that the performance of the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Su-30MKI combat aircraft, and the S-400 air defence systems during Operation Sindoor has reinforced New Delhi’s view of the value of continued defence cooperation with Moscow.
