NSA Doval-Patrushev Moscow Talks Push Arctic Trade Corridor and Polar Maritime Cooperation

India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Nikolai Patrushev, aide to the Russian President and chairman of Russia's Maritime Board, in Moscow on 29 May 2026 to advance cooperation on maritime connectivity, shipbuilding, defence and polar-waters training. The two reviewed progress on proposals first discussed when Patrushev visited New Delhi in November 2025.

The talks focused heavily on the Arctic trade corridor — also called the Northern Sea Route — that Moscow is promoting as an alternative shipping link between Asia and Europe. For India, the corridor offers shorter shipping times, access to Arctic energy and rare-earth resources, and diversification away from chokepoints such as the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. The latter has become especially relevant amid the West Asia conflict, which has periodically disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Doval and Patrushev also discussed training Indian sailors for operations in polar waters — a specialised area where Russia has decades of experience and India is just beginning to build capability. India has been an observer at the Arctic Council since 2013 and operates the Himadri research station at Ny-Alesund in Svalbard, but commercial maritime engagement in the Arctic has so far been limited.

The meeting forms part of broader engagement between India and Russia. Doval is in Moscow to attend the first International Security Forum and the 14th Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues. The two sides reaffirmed cooperation in strategic sectors while exchanging views on regional and global developments, including the evolving situation in West Asia and the Indo-Pacific.