When Russian President landed in New Delhi on his brief one-day visit to India, he wouldn't have asked for more. The Indian PM heaped praises on Russia & went to the extent of calling Russia "a pillar of strength". President Putin's visit to India sends an important signal to western nations which have imposed tough sanctions on Moscow that 'Moscow has a humble & reliable partner at its doorstep'. India is one among very few nations that refrained from condemning Russia over Ukraine issue. Even as India seeks to reduce its dependence on Russia for defense supplies, Russia continues & will continue to be India's go-to nation when it comes to strategic weapons like nuclear submarines (INS Chakra) & nuclear capable cruise missiles (BrahMos). Yet another example of defense cooperation among these giants is the ambitious FGFA project which would prove to be a complete turnaround story. India is gearing up to spend anywhere between USD 30-35 billion to induct as many as 214 single seat FGFAs during 2017-25. Besides the traditional thrust area of defense industry, this time both sides have diversified areas of cooperation. The two sides signed as many as 20 pacts worth several billion dollars, the most important of all is regarding the implementation of Unit-3 & 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear power plant (KNPP). KNPP has an investment potential of about USD 20 billion of which USD 2.8 billion has already been spent on Units-1 & 2. As per today's agreement between Modi & Putin, Russia will build 10 nuclear reactors in India most of them to come up in Kudankulam. If everything goes well, KNPP would become Asia's largest nuclear power plant by 2030, capable of producing 9200 MW from 8 reactors (2X1000 MW + 6X1200 MW) . Considering all these, one can say that Russia will continue to be the most important partner for India for the foreseeable future.
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