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India-Russia ties in a changing world order: In pursuit of a ‘Special Strategic Partnership’
India’s relations with Russia have made little progress since they got stalled following the end of the Cold War. Today their bilateral ties—officially labelled “special and privileged strategic partnership”—focus heavily on defence cooperation, while the economic partnership remains listless even as the respective relations of the two with other states have grown rapidly. This paper analyses the ebbs and flows of India-Russia relations in the first five years of the BJP-led government. It seeks to examine the changes underway in the foreign policies of both India and Russia – owing to both domestic policy goals and the changing world order – to understand how they have influenced their bilateral ties. While the relationship remains generally strong and without significant obstacles, both countries need to critically examine the substance and future of their ties for a more coherent policy outlook.