India and Russia in the Contested World: Revisiting 75 Years of Geopolitics and Cooperation

The geographic location and physical attributes of the Indo-Pacific region, distinctly marked by its rich physiographic facet and also that of peninsularity and insularity, underscores its all-encompassing diversities and resource endowments. It not only delineates intense geopolitical significance for the regional players but also its inter-oceanic location controls the broad canvass of sea-lane communications as well as huge bulk of trade and commerce between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. The Indo-Pacific dynamics encounter certain challenges through various dimensions. The most crucial has been the upsurge in the pace of competition and coordination level by the key players like China, the United States, Russia, Japan, Australia and India as well and their respective modernization ventures have to a large extent escalated the aspect of security dilemma. India’s engagement with the region is predominantly driven by the interplay of the strategies of expanding its outreach, developing extra regional ties with the major players, balancing against China in its expansionist moves, promotion of maritime strategic vision and developing a multipolar regional system and a new Asian balance of power. Such an approach motivates India to engage with Russia, which holds significant stakes in the region thereby outlining the possibility of cooperation between these two traditional partners. For the Indo-Pacific to restrain the hegemonic ambitions of both the US and China, the initiatives should be taken up by India as a balancing factor. For this objective to realize it can align with Russia since the implications of the geopolitical dynamics are beyond the region and are world-embracing. However the collaborative activities of India and Russia in the Indo-Pacific will primarily be ordained by their respective approaches toward equations with the US and China. This study while highlighting India’s foreign policy strategies in the region aims to address how Russia’s cooperation is imperative for India to develop its inclusive vision for the region and to what extent strategic partnership between India and Russia in the region can be facilitated for the purpose of collective security, economic cooperation and trans-continental commercial and security connectivity ensuing peace and prosperity in the region in a win–win paradigm.