NEW DELHI: In the midst of the current geopolitical unrest, India and Russia are trying to deepen their bilateral relationship that has flourished since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict by discussing a prospective free trade agreement (FTA). 

The announcement of FTA negotiations with Russia comes as New Delhi is already holding FTA negotiations with the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

India has recently used economic diplomacy to secure a beneficial position for itself in the geopolitics of the world's oil. It is to be further noted that as per Observer Research Foundation, India is now the second biggest purchaser of Russian crude oil (as of March 2022), and was also the largest importer of US crude oil in 2021.

The objective for India is to secure the best deals, notwithstanding the fact that Indian customers spend 20% more for oil than Americans, whose per capita income is 30 times higher.

Gupta emphasised that if the India-Russia FTP is successful, it will demonstrate that India is committed to maintaining an independent foreign policy and will continue to support Russia despite the protracted nature of the conflict in Ukraine. 

As the COVID pandemic disrupted talks on an FTA between India and the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia, the Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar stressed that "Our colleagues will pick up on this because we do believe it will make a real difference to our trade relationship."

Dmitry Shugayev, the head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, recently remarked that India continues to be the world's largest buyer of Russian weapons, accounting for 20% of the nation's USD 15 billion in annual exports.

Gupta thought that by cutting back on spending on the government and preventing price distortion for exported goods, India's new FTP schemes would have a secondary impact on inflation. "An Indo-Russia FTP would also indicate that India will continue to pursue its ambition of leading the global south on key issues, including climate finance and geopolitical risks.," the author continued.

According to media sources, India has purchased USD 10 billion worth of Russian military hardware and USD 13 billion worth of military-related imports over the past five years. India would be eager to increase its heavy machinery and related item shipments to Russia as the nation fights to maintain the operation of its critical sectors during the conflict with Ukraine.

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