India-Russia maritime ties: Moscow proposes collaboration in shipbuilding and port infra; partnership to expand across Indo-Pacific

Russia has moved to expand its maritime ties with India, putting forward fresh proposals in shipbuilding as the two countries look to expand cooperation across the Indo-Pacific and the wider Indian Ocean Region. The new push came during consultations in New Delhi on Monday between Nikolai Patrushev, a close aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s former national security adviser, and India’s shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal.People familiar with the discussions told ET that the agenda covered the civilian maritime sector in detail, ranging from shipbuilding and port infrastructure to maritime logistics. Both sides also examined matters linked to crew training and future deep-sea research. Patrushev outlined Russia’s offerings at the meeting, indicating that Moscow is ready to supply India with vessel designs or jointly create new ones. “We can offer India interesting initiatives in shipbuilding, including providing existing or developing new designs for fishing, passenger and auxiliary vessels,” he told Sonowal. He also highlighted Russia’s long-standing capabilities in niche vessel construction, saying, “We have extensive experience in creating specialised ships — such as ice-class vessels, not to mention icebreakers, where Russia has no rivals whatsoever. There are opportunities for our cooperation in green shipbuilding, which is currently one of India’s main priorities in the maritime domain.” On Tuesday, Patrushev held a separate meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister later wrote on X, “We had productive discussions on cooperation in the maritime domain, including new opportunities for collaboration in connectivity, skill development, shipbuilding and blue economy.”Patrushev also met national security adviser Ajit Doval and national maritime security coordinator Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta during his visit, ET reported.The maritime cooperation will feature prominently at the upcoming annual summit. India, which is currently working to build vessels and tankers that can withstand sanctions-related risks, is expected to place significant emphasis on maritime partnerships as these talks progress.