Whereas 19 agreements aimed toward boosting bilateral commerce had been signed, there was no breakthrough on collaboration involving the Su-57 (in image) or Russia’s S-500 air defence system. File
| Picture Credit score: Reuters
Russia’s newest pitch to broaden defence cooperation — together with provides of the Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter, long-range drones and submarines — has met with a lukewarm response from India, officers conversant in the matter mentioned.
A senior official mentioned that within the run-up to President Vladimir Putin’s current go to to India, Moscow made repeated outreach selling platforms such because the Geran collection of kamikaze drones, submarines and plane.
“India didn’t present a lot curiosity within the tools provided by Russia. The Russians had been anticipating main motion on the sidelines of the go to and are nonetheless pursuing the proposals. We’re very a lot specializing in growth of indigenous merchandise,” the official mentioned.
Regardless of excessive expectations, the much-watched defence bulletins throughout Putin’s go to didn’t materialise. Whereas 19 agreements aimed toward boosting bilateral commerce had been signed, there was no breakthrough on collaboration involving the Su-57 or Russia’s S-500 air defence system.
The restrained response comes at a time when India is driving an aggressive push in the direction of self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
On Sunday (December 7, 2025) in Leh, whereas dedicating 125 newly accomplished Border Roads Organisation (BRO) initiatives to the nation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh underscored the transformation in home capability.
Paradigm shift
He highlighted that India, as soon as closely depending on arms imports, now boasts a report defence manufacturing worth of ₹1.51 lakh crore, up from ₹46,000 crore in 2014. Defence exports have surged from beneath ₹1,000 crore to just about ₹24,000 crore in a decade. It displays a paradigm shift.
The Geran drones — Russia’s indigenised variant of Iran’s Shahed-136 kamikaze drone — have performed a significant function in Moscow’s low-cost attrition technique in Ukraine, enabling mass salvo assaults. However Indian producers and providers haven’t proven curiosity in buying them.
Earlier, on October 29, the twenty third Working Group Assembly of the India–Russia Inter-Governmental Fee on Navy Technical Cooperation was held in Moscow. Co-chaired by Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (Defence Manufacturing), and Andrey A. Boytsov, First Deputy Director of Russian Federal Service for Navy-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), the discussions spanned tri-service cooperation and defence R&D.
The assembly concluded with the signing of a Protocol outlining recent areas of collaboration and mutual development — at the same time as big-ticket defence offers stay elusive.
Revealed – December 10, 2025 11:45 pm IST
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