Amid US's Pak tilt, India-Russia pact on troop, warship deployment comes into force

A landmark defence agreement between India and Russia has come into force. The pact, unique for India, allows the two countries to station troops, warships and military aircraft in each other's territory, even in conflict situations. Experts have said the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Support (RELOS) agreement came even as a Donald Trump-led White House turned increasingly towards Pakistan, squandering the decades of upswing in ties with India.

Though the India-Russia RELOS agreement was signed in Moscow on February 18, 2025, its ratification came earlier this year, even as the US drew into a closer embrace of Pakistan and its powerful army chief Asim Munir. The details of the pact emerged after Russia's official legal information portal published them on April 18. Alongside deepening defence cooperation, the pact also provides India access to ports along the northern sea route from Valdivostok to Murmansk, which can be used for shipping LNG imports from Russia's Yamal Peninsula.

The RELOS pact allows both countries to simultaneously station up to 3,000 troops, five warships, and 10 military aircraft on each other's territory for an initial five years, with automatic extension by mutual consent.

The agreement provides reciprocal access to military bases, ports, and airfields for refuelling, repairs, maintenance, and logistical support during joint exercises, training, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions. It applies in both peacetime and wartime, marking a practical step in deepening long-standing defence ties.

An American lawyer, Gordon C Chang, highlighted the development on social media, noting that Washington's growing tilt toward Pakistan might be pushing India closer to Russia with tangible strategic consequences.

So what is the RELOS pact that was signed between India and Russia? And how do New Delhi and Moscow benefit from the agreement?

WHAT IS THE INDIA-RUSSIA RELOS PACT?

Discussions on the RELOS agreement began in 2018 and featured regularly in bilateral summits. By December 2021, it was reported to be in the final stages, but technical issues and wording differences caused delays. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine further protracted negotiations.

The agreement was signed in Moscow on February 18, 2025. Russia ratified it in December 2025, with President Putin signing it into law. It entered into force on January 12, 2026, and details were published on Russia’s official legal portal on April 18, 2026. This is when discussion started on the agreement which is unlike any other. India doesn't allow any foreign country the use of its territory for use in conflict situations.

The pact establishes procedures for the reciprocal movement and temporary deployment of military formations, warships, and aircraft. It covers joint exercises, training, and HADR missions, along with logistical support including accommodation, medical care, transport, supplies, water, electricity, and repairs.

Specific services include port calls, berthing, repairs and refuelling for warships, and air traffic control, navigation support, parking, and ground handling for aircraft. A note on Russia's State Duma’s website stated that the agreement would simplify mutual use of airspace and port calls by warships, thereby strengthening overall military cooperation.

HOW DO INDIA AND RUSSIA BENEFIT FROM RELOS PACT?

Writing for the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Aleksei Zakharov noted that the RELOS pact represents no major departure from existing bilateral military cooperation. Its primary value lies in facilitating engagements during joint exercises. Still, it offers both sides important practical benefits.

But the provisions of the agreement go beyond similar pacts.

"Even America does not have these rights under LEMOA what Russia has under RELOS," wrote author and IPR attorney Navroop Singh on X.

This pact extends operational reach for New Delhi for long-range naval deployments and exercises in the Arctic and Pacific. Furthermore, defence expert Sandeep Unnithan told India Today Global that, "this agreement provides access to Russian facilities in the strategically vital Arctic region, including ports along this northern sea route from Vladivostok to Murmansk. It supports India's growing interest in LNG imports from Russia's Yamal Peninsula". This is particularly important as India seeks to diversify its energy imports after the war in Iran disrupted supplies from the gulf.

The RELOS pact also eases supply of vital spare parts required for the sustainment and overhaul of Russian-origin platforms (which form a major part of India's inventory) amid sanctions-related challenges (take, for instance, the US' CAATSA which sanctions countries for purchasing Russian equipment, with the S400 system purchased by India requiring a waiver from the US to go ahead).

It reduces costs for joint activities like the resumed INDRA naval exercises and enhances interoperability without new infrastructure.

For Russia, the pact grants access to Indian facilities in the strategically vital Indian Ocean Region. This improves endurance for deployments far from home bases, helps Moscow maintain a global posture despite Western isolation, cements defence ties, and enables smoother coordination in the Indo-Pacific.

Zakharov described RELOS as a practical "win-win" that institutionalises existing cooperation, boosts strategic autonomy for India while providing Russia logistical depth in warmer waters.

"Russia, the only P5 country without an Indian Ocean Region presence, gets access thanks to RELOS," wrote defence expert Sandeep Unnithan in a post on X in December 2025, when the pact was signed.

IS INDIA-RUSSIA RELOS PACT ANSWER TO US's PAK TILT?

The entering into force of the RELOS agreement this year hasn't gone unnoticed in the US.

"Washington's tilt to terrorism-sponsoring Pakistan has some bad consequences," lawyer and author Gordon G Chang wrote on X after the operationalisation of the India-Russia RELOS pact.

The pact might have been signed in the early days of the Trump presidency, but comes at a time when India-US ties witnessed significant ups and downs, including American tariffs and the use of sanctions to deter India's purchases of Russian oil.

At the same time, the Trump administration has also tilted increasingly towards Pakistan, from investing in resource extraction in Balochistan to working with Islamabad in an effort to extract a peace deal from Iran.

India has also signed a similar agreement with the US known as the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) back in 2016. The pact allows the US and India to use each other’s facilities and provides for easier access to supplies and services for military forces of the two countries. That being said, unlike RELOS, which allows Moscow and New Delhi to station troops on each other's territory, LEMOA has no such provision.

The coming into force of the RELOS pact is a continuation of the deep bilateral defence cooperation that India and Russia have sustained since the Soviet era. This takes Delhi-Moscow defence ties to a new high in a world that's grappling with armed conflicts.

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