Russia has emerged as a leading trading partner for India, ranking among its top three for the first time, a shift highlighted in recent industry data from Delhi’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. The figures show a dramatic rise in bilateral commerce, with the January–May 2023 period delivering a record-high trade volume of 27.1 billion dollars. Within this period, India’s imports from Russia reached 26.5 billion dollars, a surge of nearly fourfold over the previous year, while Russia’s own purchases from India climbed to 639 million dollars, more than doubling. This momentum underscores a significant rebalancing in bilateral flows between the two economies. (attribution: Delhi Ministry of Industry and Trade)
China remains India’s largest trading partner overall, with trade between New Delhi and Beijing totaling 41.1 billion dollars in the same timeframe, though this figure marks a 9.3% decrease from the prior year. The United States ranks as the second-largest partner, registering a trade turnover of 30.4 billion dollars, down 12.5% year over year. The United Arab Emirates sits in fourth place with a 24.2 billion dollar trade volume, reflecting an 11% decline, while Saudi Arabia is fifth, recording 18.3 billion dollars in trade with India during the period, also down by 11%. These shifts reveal a complex, recalibrating global trade landscape where regional partners adjust to evolving demand, sanctions regimes, and price dynamics. (attribution: trade ministry data and market analysts)
Experts note that India, China, Turkey, and Azerbaijan have increased their roles in Russia’s external trade, effectively filling a larger share of the gap left by diminished European Union engagement. Ruslan Davydov, Deputy Head of Russia’s Federal Customs Service, described this in an interview with RIA Novosti, explaining that Moscow’s commerce with these economies is expanding rapidly. Davydov emphasized that the European Union’s share in Russia’s trade has contracted from 38 percent to about 17.6 percent within two years, signaling a clear realignment toward Eurasian and Middle Eastern markets as well as growing exchanges with India and its regional partners. (attribution: Ruslan Davydov, Federal Customs Service)
In a broader context, trade with Europe has continued to conduct settlements in rubles, reflecting a strategic preference for currency diversification amid shifting sanctions and policy landscapes. This development sits alongside the broader trend of structural shifts in global trade patterns, where currency choices, logistics routes, and political ties all intersect to shape monthly and quarterly figures. (attribution: market analysts)