Russian Presidency Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on 4 December for a two-day visit to the state -his first official trip in India since the war in Ukraine started in the early 2022.

The trip will start with a dinner for the private guests at the Prime Secretary Narendra Modi’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, in an acknowledgement of India’s warm welcome during his visit to Moscow in the year 2000.

On the 5th of December, Putin will receive a formal welcome at the presidential residence, followed by talks between the two heads on the floor of Hyderabad House. The talks are expected to encompass a broad range of cooperation that includes trade, defence as well as civil nuclear energy and mobility of labour which reflects the multifaceted and strategic characteristics of this bilateral relationship.

The main aspect of the trip is cooperation in the field of defence and the pending agreements for more S-400 air defence systems, and perhaps the acquisition of Su-57 aircraft are top of agenda, and backed by a recently approved military logistics agreement, which expands the mutual access to bases, ports airspace, joint training facilities and airspace.

Economic and trade cooperation also are prominently discussed. The two countries hope to expand bilateral trade beyond the current level, including suggestions for greater collaboration through a free-trade deal in conjunction with Eurasian Economic Union.

In the meantime, a labor mobility pact is in process which will permit thousands of Indian skilled and semi-skilled employees to fill in the gaps in Russia’s rapidly expanding hotel, construction, and healthcare sectors. It is thought to improve people-to-people as well as connections between the two countries.

Overall, this visit highlights India and Russia’s determination to strengthening the “special and exclusive” strategic partnership that spans defense, economy, energy and human resources regardless of the fact that global geopolitics are undergoing radical shifts.