India took a lot of flak in the West for increasing imports of Russian fossil fuels in the face of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The world's third-largest oil importer saw deliveries from Russia jump tenfold in 2022 and double again last year, thanks to heavy price discounts. India's coal imports from Russia rose threefold over the same two-year period.

Despite accusations of funding Putin's war machine, New Delhi has justified the increase by citing India's traditional "stable and friendly" ties with Moscow and its heavy reliance on imported oil.

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, the Kremlin will be looking to further boost trade with the South Asian power to shore up Russia's commodity-dependent economy and lessen the impact of Western sanctions over the Ukraine war.

When announcing the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that in addition to working together on global and regional security issues, there was "mutual political will" to boost trade and economic cooperation.

India, on the other hand, must tread a delicate path as it aims to maintain strong links with the West, seek new trade links with Moscow and retain a neutral position over the conflict.

DW looks at the current state of India-Russia trade ties and what the two leaders could agree on next.

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During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and India built a strategic partnership for defense and trade that continued after the end of communism. In 2000, Putin, then Russia's prime minister, signed a new declaration of cooperation with New........

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