New Delhi, Aug. 24 -- For the Indian farming lobby, the news from the Kremlin on Monday carried practical weight beyond the usual diplomatic language. Vladimir Putin told India's foreign minister that Russia was increasing fertilizer shipments to address a supply gap, and committed personally to resolving the issue. At stake is one of the most sensitive dependencies in India's agricultural economy: Russian nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers that flow into paddy fields and wheat farms across the subcontinent.

bilateral trade is growing in 2026, with India now the second-largest buyer of Russian crude oil, and a joint target of $100 billion in annual trade by 2030 is being built toward across energy, technology, and defense.

"Your visit h...