Washington, Dec 6 India’s decision to “roll out the red carpet for President Vladimir Putin” during the New Delhi summit this week reflects a calibrated effort to balance ties with Moscow and Washington, former White House South Asia official Lisa Curtis said, noting that the visit came at a moment of strain in US–India relations over trade tariffs and perceived policy drift.
Curtis, now Senior Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), said the agreements announced in New Delhi demonstrated continuity in India’s long-standing defence and economic cooperation with Russia.
“They agreed to increase trade to USD100 billion by 2030,” she said, while adding that “US–India trade… they’ve pledged to increase to 500 billion by 2030. So, US-India trade is five times higher than with Russia.”
Curtis said India also “signed defence agreements. It looks like India’s going to import more S-400s from Russia.”
At the same time, she underscored that India’s military partnership with Washington remains robust, pointing to the recently announced helicopter sustainment package. “They just signed a deal, a USD1 billion deal for India to sustain and upgrade its US-made helicopters.”
According to Curtis, New Delhi’s diplomatic choreography must be viewed against the backdrop of recent frictions with Washington.
“The deterioration that we’ve seen in US–India relations because of the US slapping on 50 per cent tariffs, because of the seeming tilt toward Pakistan, following the India–Pakistan conflict in May… probably caused India to roll out the red carpet even further for President Putin.”
But she warned that India faces growing risks in its technology engagement with Moscow. “There was just a report out this morning in the Washington Post about how Russia is trying to use India to create a sovereign system of technology separate from the West or separate from the United States, and that it’s trying to, you know, integrate into India’s cybersecurity and IT networks, which would not be helpful for India.”
Any such cooperation, she cautioned, has implications far beyond the bilateral relationship. Russia has a very close relationship with China. So, any on advanced technology with Russia could certainly mean China also gaining access to Indian technology.”
She argued that India’s future gains lie more squarely with Washington, especially in emerging technologies.
“India has to make some choices… Is it gonna benefit more by cooperating with the US, for instance, in the AI race, and in other areas?” she asked. Despite India’s enduring partnership with Russia, “the future, holds more promise for India in developing its relationship with the United States.”
On Washington’s likely reaction to the PM Modi–Putin meeting, Curtis said, “we’ll have to wait and see,” predicting a potentially limited response given other global priorities. “He’s unpredictable in how he responds to things,” she said of President Trump, adding that this time “, I’m not sure that we’ll see the same kind of strong reaction” witnessed after Modi’s earlier meeting with Xi Jinping and Putin in China.
Curtis served as the Trump Administration’s senior director for South and Central Asia on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2020 and is widely regarded as one of Washington’s leading voices on India policy. India has maintained a long-standing defence partnership with Russia while deepening security, technology, and strategic cooperation with the United States, particularly through the Quad framework.
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