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The newly re-elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit Russia on July 8th, according to Indian news media. It will be his first trip to Russia for nearly five years and comes as Indian trade with Russia is hitting new highs, while BRICS collaboration is intensifying.
Modi’s visit comes a little over three weeks since the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs met on June 10 in Nizhny Novgorod.
A significant part of Modi’s tip will be to discuss trade payments and the potential for a mutual BRICS settlement scheme. A ‘BRICS Bridge’ mechanism has been discussed which would be underpinned by members pledging 40% of reserves in gold and 60% on national currencies. India has a somewhat unique position in its trade with Russia as it buys far more from Russia than it sells, leading to Russia having over-capacity in Indian Rupees which it finds difficult to offload.
Trade between India and Russia stood at US$65.7 billion in the financial year ending March 2024, an increase of 33% over year end March 2023 (India employs an April-March financial year).
Modi will also likely discuss further expansion of the BRICS group itself, with the annual BRICS meetings due to be held in Kazan in October. A further 30 countries have applied to join, although new members approved during the Kazan meeting will probably see about five or six given the go ahead.
Modi will also be discussing energy, and not just oil and gas imports, which currently make up the bulk of bilateral trade. Six nuclear power plants, each of 1000 MW capacity are being constructed in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu with Russian participation. The first is already producing electricity to its full capacity, while the second is in the process of achieving criticality. Excavation work for construction of the third and fourth plants are at an advanced stage.
Further Reading
Russia-India 2024 Trade and Development
India’s bilateral trade and development with Russia is extensively discussed in our 2024 Russia’s Pivot To Asia guide. This is a complimentary download and may be accessed in English here and in Russian here.
