The impact of the July 8-9 Putin-Modi summit on the NATO war party has been to sober up some triumphalists, as it clearly included a serious and deep discussion between the two leaders of the NATO-Russia war over Ukraine, and the possibilities of peace. Nonetheless the burden of the summit seems to have been economic development plans and agreements.
After the summit, India External Affairs official Vinay Kwatra said that Prime Minister Modi and President Putin determined to raise Russian-Indian trade from its already greatly increased (more than tripled) $65 billion in 2023, to $100 billion by 2030, with Russia planning to import more industrial goods, and India more fertilizers. This is in itself a “great project,” because the trade is extraordinarily imbalanced now, with India importing $60 billion largely in petrochemical products last year and exporting just $5 billion to Russia—although that latter figure grew by 35% year-on-year, primarily by increased Indian engineering services to Russia.
