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Putin Has Spent Years Asking India to Sell Russia More—The Trade Gap Is Still Massive
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia has spent nearly four years urging India to increase exports of food, medicine, machinery and other goods, but the effort has produced little change, leaving the two countries’ nearly $60 billion trade relationship overwhelmingly tilted toward Russian oil sales.
In India’s financial year ending in March 2026, bilateral trade reached $59.9 billion, according to figures cited by Bloomberg on August 31.
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Of that amount, roughly $55.4 billion consisted of Indian imports from Russia, overwhelmingly crude oil, while Indian exports to Russia totaled just $4.5 billion.
That means India bought more than 12 times as much from Russia as it sold there.
Russia has repeatedly asked India to help fill that gap with everything from pharmaceuticals and food to industrial machinery, telecommunications equipment and vehicle parts.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin again raised the issue less than a year ago, calling on his government to “take certain steps” to reduce the imbalance in bilateral trade and identify “the most promising areas of cooperation.”
Yet Indian exports to Russia have increased only modestly compared with pre-war levels.
India sold Russia about $3.3 billion worth of goods in the financial year that ended shortly after the February 2022 invasion. The following year, exports actually declined to approximately $3.1 billion.
That happened despite Moscow sending New Delhi a list of roughly 500 urgently needed products in November 2022, including spare parts for cars, aircraft, helicopters and trains.
Indian exports subsequently climbed, but remained between roughly $4.3 billion and $4.9 billion annually.
In the latest financial year, they moved in the opposite direction again, falling 8.2% to $4.5 billion, according to India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Russia has repeatedly urged Indian businesses to expand its market presence. Moscow renewed that push in December 2025, acting on Putin’s call to address the widening trade imbalance.
Previously, Russia started to buy back the oil it sold to India. Russia’s crude accounted for a record 50.83% of India’s oil imports in July 2026, surpassing half of the country’s purchases for the first time and reaching 2.47 million barrels per day.
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-cc0de22a6a5d006371a6e982139a8979.jpg "Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping shake hands during a signing ceremony following their talks in Beijing on May 20, 2026. (Source: Getty Images)")
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
-bd8abf028a19131a5f7fe6eeb8e0828a.png "Turkish Coast Guard vessel approaches the grounded Russian cargo ship OMSKIY-107 off the coast of Istanbul’s Şile district. (Source: Turkish Demirören News Agency)")