Excellent article, and the article is quite right that an India-Russia partnership can yield great benefits to both sides. However, Russia needs to market itself much more to Indian students and workers. This includes both making the application / visa / travel process smoother, and getting Indians to consider Russia as an attractive work destination. This could also balance the current trade imbalance - Russia could pay Indian workers in rubles, and India can then use those rubles to buy oil directly, without worrying about US sanctions.