Russia has emerged as a top trading partner for India, joining the top five for the first time in the country’s recorded trade history. This milestone was reported by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, which analyzed data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The takeaway is clear: bilateral commerce between New Delhi and Moscow has gained remarkable momentum, signaling a deeper economic alignment between the two neighbors on the Eurasian landmass.
For the ten months of the 2022–23 financial year, covering April 2022 through March 2023, India and Russia recorded a trade turnover of 39.8 billion dollars. This figure represents a new high in the long arc of their commercial engagement and underscores the growing breadth of the relationship across energy, defense, technology, and consumer sectors. The surge is notable because it marks a shift from Russia’s previous standing; in the 2021–22 period, Russia ranked 25th among India’s trading partners, illustrating a rapid ascent in a relatively short span. The historical high before this decade of change was achieved in 1997–1998, when Russia stood at 16th place, a reminder of the volatility and long history of India’s foreign trade patterns.
Beyond Russia, India’s other major trading partners include the United States, which handles about 108.4 billion dollars in trade, China with 95.9 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates with 70.2 billion dollars, and Saudi Arabia with 44.3 billion dollars. These figures place India in a broad, multi-polar trading framework, reflecting the country’s diversified import and export needs, from high-technology goods to energy and agricultural products. Analysts note that such diversification helps India manage external shocks and maintain stable growth, even amid global fluctuations in demand and supply chains.
Meanwhile, observers in major global markets have highlighted how shifting dynamics in India’s trade relationships are influencing regional economics. In particular, a Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, has reported that closer commerce with China, India, and Turkey is contributing to resilience in the Russian economy, even as Western sanctions remain in force. This analysis points to the interconnected nature of global supply chains and the way sanctions regimes can ripple through neighboring economies and trading blocs, prompting recalibrations in sourcing, manufacturing, and investment flows. The broader implication is that India’s expanding trade with Russia sits within a larger pattern of evolving economic ties across Asia and beyond, with consequences for energy security, technology transfer, and strategic partnerships across the region.