India’s Jaishankar Says Russia Ties Witnessed “Steady & Sustained” Growth

India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, on Wednesday (May 13, 2025), said the bilateral partnership with Russia has seen a steady and sustained growth in the last few years, with economic and energy dimensions becoming more pronounced.

In his meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is in New Delhi for the BRICS meeting, Jaishankar said India and Russia have expanded collaboration in science and technology, and the mobility of talents and skills has acquired greater salience in an uncertain and volatile global environment.

He said India and Russia have a shared interest in strengthening multipolarity, and political cooperation between the two countries is “even more valuable” in a volatile global environment.

He said the annual BRICS summit acts as a platform for the nations to take forward and review the special and privileged partnership, exchanging views on global developments.

The two sides can benefit from greater derisking and diversification, Jaishankar said, adding his “productive exchange of views” with Lavrov touched on several aspects of the bilateral special and privileged strategic partnership, including trade, investment, energy, connectivity, technology, and facilitating the mobility of skills and talent.

Their discussions focused on different aspects of the bilateral strategic partnership and implementing the decisions made at last year’s India-Russia summit, when the two sides agreed to step up economic cooperation and boost two-way trade to $100 billion by 2030.

“The mobility of talents and skills has acquired greater salience, and our interest in ensuring better connectivity is deeper,” he said. “Our two nations have a shared interest in strengthening multipolarity. We also benefit through greater derisking and diversification,” he added.

Lavrov noted that bilateral trade is currently worth almost $60 billion and said he did not doubt that the goal of increasing it to $100 billion by 2030 will be achieved. “Cooperation at all levels is based on sustained structures, which is helpful for long-term planning and achieving results,” he said.

Russia supports India’s priorities in the BRICS grouping, and cooperation between the two sides at the UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and G20 is “becoming more important at a time when we have to find global answers to global problems,” Lavrov said.

“The problems are not created by all of us, but to resolve them, we have to join our efforts, including in BRICS and SCO,” he added.