Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled on a state visit to New Delhi for the 23rd annual summit meeting between India and Russia.

Since their first annual summit in 2000, the meetings have continued annually, without a break, except for the two years when the COVID-19 pandemic put a worldwide hold on travel.

As is invariably the case when Indian defense policymakers meet their Russian counterparts, three major areas of strategic concern were discussed in Delhi: defense purchases, nuclear power generation, and space technology.

India remains the world’s biggest buyer of Russian defense equipment, accounting for 30-40 per cent of Russia’s annual defense exports. More importantly, the weaponry and defense materials that Russia provides India verge on the sub-strategic category, and are unique in contemporary weapons transfers.

These include, for example, the sequential lease of two Akula-class, nuclear-powered, attack submarines (SSNs), which India used for finalizing the design of its own line of SSNs and for training the first sets of crews that will operate the indigenous SSNs.

The sub-strategic weaponry that India has acquired from Russia in the previous decade also includes the BrahMos supersonic conventional cruise missile and elements of the “long range surface-to-air missile,” which have provided India’s most recent warships with greatly improved performance in air defense.

S-400 Air Defense Missile System

The Indian side also sought expeditious delivery of the two remaining squadrons of the S-400 air defense missile system. Three squadrons of the S-400 system, which were delivered before Operation Sindoor, shot down a number of Pakistani fighter jets in that operation.

The S-400 is considered to be one of the world’s........

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