India Seeks Defence Export Growth via Russia-Led EAEU Deal

• India aims to increase defence exports and share limited technology with EAEU countries
• Defence trade with Russia is small and mostly one-way, though Russia remains a key supplier to India
• India–EAEU trade hit $69B in 2024; FTA talks target market access and rule alignment

As per a government representative, India has set itself the goal of raising defence exports and imparting a bit of defence technology to the nations of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The agreement is likely to be reached through a new free trade agreement (FTA) with the bloc. The official stated, “We will look to expand defence exports, and some amount of technology transfer too”.

The EAEU, which was founded in 2015, comprises of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. It aims to facilitate trade between the members by decreasing regulatory obstacles and relaxing trade limitations.

India intends to use this platform to the maximum extent possible in terms of both growing its defence industry and gaining access for its arms and systems in the markets.

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Presently, India's arms exports to Russia are negligible. They suffered a drop from approximately $18.3 million in 2019–20 to just $1.2 million in 2022–23, after that they slightly increased to $4.7 million in 2023–24 which was less than 1% of India's overall exports to Russia.

Traditionally, the arms trade has been going from Russia to India to a large extent. During the period from 2020 to 2024, Russia was providing about 36% of India’s arms imports, though this was down from previously due to India obtaining weapons from other countries and boosting its own detente. The one part where India is greatly dependent on Russia: fighter and aircraft, tanks plus air defence systems.

The FTA set forth intends to slowly rectify the imbalance in trade that exists between the two. The EAEU and India established the Terms of Reference in August 2025. The first round of negotiations took place from November 26th to 28th, 2025, and a second one is anticipated in February 2026.

The talks will be concerned with the issues of non-tariff barriers, rules harmonization, and Indian goods obtaining easier access to the market. The bilateral trade between India and EAEU was $69 billion in 2024. That number represents a 7% increase compared to the previous year, and the target for the future bilateral trade is $100 billion by 2030 after PM Modi’s visit to Moscow in 2024.