PM Modi-Putin talks: 5th gen Su-57s, nuclear power plants & US sanctions on agenda

BRICS began as an informal grouping (BRIC) of Brazil, Russia, India and China, holding its first summit in 2009; South Africa joined in 2010 to make it BRICS. In January 2024, the bloc expanded to admit Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE as full members (Saudi Arabia was invited but has not formally completed accession, and Indonesia joined subsequently), taking full membership beyond the original five. BRICS has no founding treaty or permanent secretariat; it functions through annual rotating chairships and summit declarations, alongside institutions like the New Development Bank (headquartered in Shanghai).

India and Russia previously ran a joint Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme (from 2007) to develop an Indian variant of the Su-57, but India formally withdrew in February 2018 citing cost overruns, technology-transfer restrictions, and performance concerns about the aircraft's stealth and supercruise capability. India subsequently redirected its fifth-generation fighter ambitions toward the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme under the Aeronautical Development Agency. Russia has periodically renewed its pitch for Su-57 sales or licensed production to India since then.

Key Details

• FGFA joint venture: HAL (India) and Sukhoi (Russia), launched 2007; India's preliminary-phase investment was about ₹1,483 crore.
• India exited FGFA in 2018; AMCA is being developed indigenously as a twin-engine, fifth-generation stealth fighter.
• Defence procurement in India follows the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) categories — Buy (Indian), Buy & Make, and Buy (Global) — with approvals routed through the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and, for high-value deals, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), enacted by the US in August 2017, allows secondary sanctions under Section 231 against countries undertaking "significant transactions" with Russia's defence or intelligence sectors. India's 2018 purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system technically exposed it to CAATSA action; India received a formal sanctions waiver from the US in 2022, citing strategic considerations, and has not been sanctioned to date.

Key Details

• CAATSA: US Public Law 115-44 (2017), Section 231 targets significant transactions with Russia's defence/intelligence sectors.
• S-400 deal: $5.43 billion, signed October 2018 during a Putin visit to India; India secured a CAATSA waiver in 2022.
• A waiver requires the US President to certify the transaction is in US national security interest, is not a threat to certain US systems, and reduces the country's dependence on Russian defence equipment over time.

India's principal civil nuclear partnership with Russia centres on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. The project traces to a 1988 inter-governmental agreement (Rajiv Gandhi-Gorbachev) for two VVER reactors, revived via a 1998 supplementary agreement after the Soviet collapse; a 2008 agreement (during President Medvedev's visit) added four more units, taking the planned total to six VVER-1000 reactors. Units 1 and 2 are operational; Units 3–6 are at various stages of construction, and India-Russia have discussed additional new-site cooperation beyond Kudankulam.

Key Details

• 1988 agreement: two reactors; construction began 2002; Unit 1 commissioned 2013–14.
• 2008 agreement: four additional units (3–6) plus cooperation on new sites, signed during President Medvedev's visit.
• Reactor technology: Russian-design VVER-1000 pressurised water reactors.
• Civil nuclear cooperation operates under IAEA safeguards and India's 2008 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver, which opened India to global civil nuclear trade despite being outside the NPT.