MOSCOW, Aug. 24 -- When Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar walked into the Kremlin on Monday, he carried something beyond a diplomatic agenda: a personal communication from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vladimir Putin. Whatever the letter contained, the message delivered by the meeting itself was unmistakable: India is not stepping back from its relationship with Russia.

Jaishankar's two-day official visit to Moscow, his most substantive engagement with the Russian leadership since late last year, covered territory from fertilizer supply chains to free trade agreements, and ended with Putin's direct confirmation that he will personally attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi next month. That alone made the trip one of the most...