New Delhi: As India readies to amend its contentious nuclear liability laws and boost its cyber defence mechanisms in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, discussions are learnt to have been started with Russia to forge joint collaborations in nuclear energy and cyber space, besides cutting-edge technology across several sectors, ET has learnt.

Deliberations are, in fact, picking pace ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s India visit this year for the annual bilateral summit, to draw up clear roadmaps.

Case in point: A high-level NITI Aayog team is expected to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum next month where a special roundtable on Indo-Russia Science and Technology cooperation is lined up, ET has learnt. Movement is also being quietly made on the nuclear front with a clutch of small modular reactors (SMRs) being considered as part of the collaboration between the two countries. Russian nuclear firm Rosatom, which built the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), signed a memorandum of understanding this April with Maharashtra for thorium-based SMRs. It is gathered that Rosatom plans to build a number of SMRs and has been in talks with the stakeholders, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is also awaiting a green signal from India for another NPP, they said. There is keen interest to work with India on cybersecurity as well, especially co-development of cyber defence mechanisms, sector specific firewalls as well as cybersecurity “products” for global markets, it is gathered. Semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, space technology and critical minerals are among other areas identified for cross-sectoral collaboration on “knowledge creation” and “Brahmos-like co-development models” in order to develop an enduring technology base for future “products”, according to people in the know. In fact, several steps have been taken over the last few months in this direction.

Moscow-based non-governmental development organisation -Innopraktika -is readying to set up an Indo-Russian technology association and engineering centre with bases in both countries to spur innovation, it is learnt. Earlier this year, an Innopraktika delegation held discussions with the Indian business community to assess readiness for high-tech product development.

In January, Russia’s leading National Research University – Higher School of Economics (HSE) and the University of Delhi, in partnership with Geoscan (a portfolio company of the Innopraktika non-state development institute), inked an agreement to establish an international scientific “mirror laboratory” on data storage, processing and transmission in space systems. In November 2024, a Russian Business Center was set up in India to develop trade ties between the two countries, promote export cooperation and provide a platform for interaction between the business communities.

India’s digital transformation is also moving in a direction very similar to that in Russia, with rapid growth in fintech, digital government services, e-commerce and smart city infrastructure, said Yury Maksimov, co-founder of Cyberus, a Russia-based international cybersecurity development foundation, adding that this kind of progress demands strong cybersecurity.

India is not just a partner but a key player in shaping the future of global cybersecurity and digital architecture, Maksimov told ET.