The February 2025 Reciprocal Exchange of Logistic Support (RELOS) agreement between India and Russia has received ratification by both houses of the Russian parliament and is now a Russian federal law. The State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin observed that “Our [Russia] relations with India are strategic and comprehensive, and we value them,” and has labelled the RELOS as “another step toward reciprocity and the deepening of our ties.”

Surely, the RELOS has expanded the envelop of the India–Russia defence cooperation labeled as India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC). The RELOS covers a wide canvas of operational, technical, logistics and training activities including stationing-access to each other’s military personnel at facilities such as ports, bases and access to support facilities. Although the RELOS is focused primarily on military matters, issues related to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief have also been included as part of its mandate thereby giving it a civil-military meaning.

The RELOS would necessarily cover respective national airspaces, sovereign territories and territorial waters as also in international waters and air space. The possible geographic spaces of the FRELOS would be Indian Ocean and the Arctic waters where both countries have geopolitical, geoeconomics and geostrategic interests.

As far as the Indian Ocean is concerned, it is India’s backyard where it exercises enormous political, economic and strategic influence. New Delhi’s strategy is both competitive and cooperative wherein it must contend with the presence of both regional and forward deployed extra-regional navies of the United States, China and European countries. The cooperative-convergent agenda is focused on building maritime bridges with the regional countries through institutions such as the IORA, IONS, and sub-regional groupings such as BIMSTEC, etc. Besides there are a host of bilateral and trilateral agreements that provide the gravitas to New Delhi’s cooperative agendas.

Once a dominant player in the Indian Ocean, the end of the Cold War pushed the Russian Navy into northern hemisphere. Besides it did not possess many platforms for distant deployment and had chosen to stay in the Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and the Arctic waters. However, since 2003, it has made regular forays in the Indian Ocean to engage in the ‘Indra’ series of exercises with the Indian Navy. It also conducts operational exercises with the Iranian Navy and seeks access and basing arrangements with African countries. It now has a military basing agreement with Sudan under which Russian Navy vessels will be able to operate from Port Sudan that could “significantly boost Moscow’s military influence in Africa and disrupt key shipping lanes” in the Indian Ocean. 

This is significant keeping in mind that Russia is still building up its economic power potential. Its military resilience has now been showcased during the Russia-Ukraine war that is now entering into its fourth year. In essence, Russia’s politico-military ambitions has surprised the US and the NATO. The US’ National Security Strategy notes that it cannot forever serve as the “Atlas” of the “entire world order” and expects “many allies and partners” nations to “assume primary responsibility for their regions and contribute far more to our collective defense”. In a way it sees Russia as a major competitor besides China. Meanwhile the strategy further goes on to suggest that “many Europeans regard Russia as an existential threat”.

For Russia, the Arctic is its backyard where is enjoys uncontested influence given that the most important route in these waters is the Northern Sea Route which is under its control. It owns the largest fleet of ice breakers, and the Russian Navy has been expanding its military-naval operations in the Arctic prompting the other Arctic littorals (Canada, Denmark (Greenland and the Faroese Islands), Norway and the US (through Alaska) to build deterrence.

India has limited interests in the Arctic and these are limited to commercial activities involving mining, energy and infrastructure development. In November 2025, India and Russia held Ministerial-level consultations on Arctic cooperation and discussed joint production of polar-class vessels in India. The plans also include port development and logistics and it was agreed to “deepen collaboration to build a resilient, efficient and sustainable maritime framework supporting long-term connectivity and growth” particularly along the Eastern maritime corridor connecting Vladivostok to Chennai as well as the International North-South Transport Corridor through Iran and the Caspian Sea.

The RELOS should also act as a catalyst for the Indian ambition to emerge as a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) in the region. It is already serving the MRO needs of the US Navy. Mazagon Docks Limited, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata, Goa Shipyard Limited and the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) have constructed/refitted Indian warships of Russian design and have serviced Russian weapons and sensors including propulsion systems at their facilities. The MRO arrangement under the RELOS would preclude Russian Navy ships undertaking long voyages back to homeports in Russia.

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is former Director National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi and is associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi.