Russia seeks Indian alliance to bypass Western sanctions

Russia is struggling to acquire the weapons and ammunition necessary to fight Ukraine. The regime in Moscow has already engaged all its allies. It is known that the Russian army is supported by the governments of North Korea, Belarus, Iran, and China.

India was expected to be added to this list. The Kremlin wanted to use Indians to bypass the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries. The planned scheme was revealed by the "Financial Times".

According to journalists from the British newspaper, the Russians intended to use financial reserves to buy components from India necessary for building weapons. Payments were to be made in Indian rupees to circumvent some European sanctions by liquidating the currency.

The closed payment system between India and Russia would not be subject to Western control, allowing the purchase of "telecommunication equipment, server equipment, and other complex electronic equipment", which was previously purchased, among others, from European Union countries. The total value of the transactions is around 1 billion pounds.

Journalists from the "Financial Times" reported that the Indian company Innovio Ventures was supposed to earn as much as 4 billion pounds from transactions with the Russians. This included the production of components for combat drones.

However, that is not all. As part of the cooperation, factories were supposed to be established in India and managed by Russians. Russian intelligence officers were also involved.

Additionally, India is currently the largest recipient of Russian crude oil. It is not known, however, whether the plan revealed in the Russian correspondences by "Financial Times" journalists came to fruition.

Officially, the billions of rupees that Russia has accumulated through international cooperation are untouchable for Moscow. This is a huge problem for Vladimir Putin, who is unable to reach an agreement with the government in New Delhi.