External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, at a India-Russia inter-governmental commission meeting, reiterated India's position that the Ukraine conflict must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. The meeting reviewed bilateral cooperation across trade, investment, energy, and connectivity. India has consistently maintained strategic autonomy on the Ukraine war, abstaining from UN votes condemning Russia while continuing to expand energy and defence ties with Moscow.

India's position on the Ukraine conflict is a textbook example of its 'strategic autonomy' doctrine — a term that has replaced the older 'non-alignment' in India's foreign policy lexicon. India has refused to condemn Russia at the UN General Assembly and Security Council, abstaining on multiple resolutions since February 2022. This is not neutrality in the traditional sense; India has explicitly called for a ceasefire and dialogue while simultaneously deepening economic ties with Russia — particularly in crude oil imports, where Russia became India's top supplier after Western sanctions created a price discount.

The bilateral framework being reviewed here — the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) — is the institutional backbone of India-Russia relations. India and Russia have a 'Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership' formalised in 2010. Defence cooperation remains the longest-standing pillar, with Russia historically supplying over 60% of India's defence equipment, though India is diversifying.

For UPSC, the examiner will test whether aspirants understand the distinction between non-alignment (Cold War era, NAM), strategic autonomy (post-1991 doctrine), and India's actual voting record. The Ukraine situation also connects to India's G20 Presidency consensus, where the New Delhi Declaration carefully avoided directly naming Russia as the aggressor — a diplomatic achievement India frequently cites.