The 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club is ongoing in Sochi, Russia. The summit is being held at Gazprom’s Polyana 1389 Hotel in Sochi, built ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Perched 1389 metres above sea level, on the Psekhako Plateau, its alpine calm and exclusivity frame Russia’s most forceful debates on world order.
The title of the Club’s flagship conference this year reflects this – The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use. It is Russia’s view of the world: decidedly multipolar, and how to navigate it.
Contrary to the western narrative of Russia being isolated, the conference draws presidents, prime ministers, scholars, and business leaders from all over the world. This year, it has 140 participants from 42 countries – a typical turnout.
Valdai, founded in 2004, takes its name from Lake Valdai near Veliky Novgorod, where its first summit was held. Since then, it has grown into Russia’s leading intellectual platform. It is a rare forum where a head of state engages directly with a global audience. Valdai has hosted presidents from Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Afghanistan, and Finland, as well as European leaders such as Francois Fillon and Romano Prodi, and African leader Thabo Mbeki. Beyond politics, the forum has drawn leading thinkers and business figures — from John Mearsheimer to Jack Ma. Such participation shows Valdai is no provincial forum but a high-profile arena where Russia debates the world order with global elites and frames its global doctrine.
For instance, after the Crimean crisis in 2014, Valdai’s 11th summit declared a “world without rules”, rejecting the Western-led order.[1] By the mid-2010s, discussions shifted to alternatives such as “Greater Eurasia”, the crisis of the Western security system, and the case for de-dollarisation in global trade. The wars in Syria and the Middle East also featured prominently, with Moscow portraying itself as a stabiliser in the face of failed Western interventions.[2] [3] [4] [5]
By 2019–21, Valdai had embraced a civilisational turn, presenting Russia as a state-civilisation distinct from the Westphalian nation-state.[6] [7] [8] The 2022 summit on a “Post-hegemonic World” and the 2023 meeting on “Fair Multipolarity” have Global South voices outnumbering Europeans, reflecting Russia’s pivot toward Asia, Africa, and Latin America.[9] [10] The 2024 summit continued this trajectory with the theme Lasting Peace on What Basis? — underscoring Russia’s intent to position itself as both a critic of Western liberalism and an architect of an alternative order.[11]
India has moved from the margins to the centre of Valdai debates. Absent until 2015, it was named a ‘long-term partner’ by President Putin in the 2016 plenary. By 2023, India was mentioned 46 times in Putin’s plenary — praised for its “independent, nationally orientated leadership” resisting Western pressure. Since then, Indians from academic and diplomatic circles have been regular on Valdai panels. Madhavan Palat, Nandan Unnikrishnan, C. Raja Mohan, Arvind Gupta, and D. Bala Venkatesh Varma are some of the frequently visible names. This rise reflects deeper shifts. After the Crimean crisis in 2014, Russia turned east as sanctions closed off the West. India stood out as a fast-growing economy, a major energy buyer, and a country that refused to join sanctions. India joined the SCO in 2017, welcomed by Russia, as the Indian presence balanced the asymmetrical dominance of China in the group. Russian energy major Rosneft’s $13 billion investment in Essar Oil,[12] which is one of the largest foreign direct investments in the refinery sector in India. In 2018, India pressed ahead with the $5.43 billion purchase of five S-400s, of which three have been delivered and two are awaited, despite U.S. threats.[13] And by 2019, defence joint ventures and the Chennai–Vladivostok corridor showed momentum. That year, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke at Valdai in Moscow. By 2025, Russia had become one of India’s top sources of oil imports, comprising over 40% of India’s oil imports.[14]
India’s place at Valdai rests on a long history of trust, forged through nuclear cooperation, cultural exchanges, cinema and sport — from the Kudankulam reactors to Pushkin in Indian universities, from Awara to Karpov and Kasparov inspiring Indian chess. Diplomatically, it showed in Russia’s (then USSR) UN vetoes on Kashmir (1957, 1962), the Liberation of Goa (1961), the Bangladesh War (1971),[15] and since 2022, in India’s multiple abstentions on Ukraine resolutions. This reservoir of trust has helped the relationship resist pressure, be it Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) threats over the S-400 or the current 50% tariffs imposed by the U.S. over oil imports from Russia.[16]
The conference reflects the friendship. Every year the largest number of foreign participants are selected from India, across generations – the old USSR-India-Russia experts interspersed with younger ones – to develop resilience in the face of geopolitical shocks. It’s a privilege for Indian scholars on Russia to be in the room with Valdai’s top figures—Andrey Sushentsov, Oleg Barabanov, Timofei Bordachev, and Fyodor Lukyanov, who moderates Putin’s plenary every years.[17] With India and Russia looking to diversify their ties beyond traditional defence and energy sectors, Valdai gives Indian scholars a seat at the table that shapes Moscow’s vocabulary. And it lets India signal its own positions to a diverse audience — from Russian policymakers to scholars across the world.
Rupal Mishra is a Russia expert.
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References:
[1] President of Russia, Meeting with members of the Valdai International Discussion Club. Available at: http://www.en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/46860
[2] Valdai Discussion Club, 12th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club: https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/vladimir-putin-meets-with-members-of-the-valdai-discussion-club-transcript-of-the-final-plenary-sess/
[3] Valdai Discussion Club, 13th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club: The Future in Progress – Shaping the World of Tomorrow. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/13th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-discussion-club-the-future-in-progress-shaping-the-world-of-tomorr/
[4] Valdai Discussion Club, 14th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/own/14th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-club/
[5] Valdai Discussion Club, 15th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/own/15-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-discussion-club/
[6] Valdai Discussion Club, 16th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/own/16th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-discussion-club/
[7] Valdai Discussion Club, 17th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club: Speakers. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/17th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-discussion-club-speakers/
[8] Valdai Discussion Club, 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club: About the Speakers. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/18th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-discussion-club-about-the-speakers/
[9] Valdai Discussion Club, 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club: World After Hegemony. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/19th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-club-world-after-hegemony/
[10] Valdai Discussion Club, 20th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/own/the-20th-annual-meeting-of-the-valdai-discussion-club/
[11] Valdai Discussion Club, 21st Annual Meeting: Lasting Peace. Available at: https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/the-21st-annual-meeting-lasting-peace/
[12] “Essar Oil Completes $13 Billion Sale to Rosneft-led Consortium in Largest FDI Deal.” 2017. The Economic Times. August 18, 2017. Accessed October 1, 2025. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/essar-oil-completes-sale-of-india-assets-to-rosneft-for-12-9-bn/articleshow/60154679.cms?from=mdr
[13] “U.S. discourages India from acquiring Russian S-400 missile defence systems: President Biden’s nominee.” 2022. The Hindu. January 13, 2022. Accessed October 1, 2025. https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-discourages-india-from-acquiring-russian-s-400-missile-defence-systems-president-bidens-nominee/article38265197.ece
[14] Baruah, Rituraj. 2025. “Russian Oil Sales to India to Continue Under ‘special Mechanism’ Despite US Threats, Say Embassy Officials.” Mint, August 20, 2025. https://www.livemint.com/economy/russian-crude-oil-exports-us-tariff-threats-embassy-officials-india-11755695825525.html.
[15] Tayal, Skand R. 2022. “Distinguished Lectures.” Ministry of External Affairs. Ministry of External Affairs. Accessed October 1, 2025. https://www.mea.gov.in/distinguished-lectures-detail.htm?876.
[16] “Valdai – New Generation.” n.d. https://valdaiclub.com/projects/newgeneration/
[17] “Valdai – New Generation.” n.d. https://valdaiclub.com/projects/newgeneration/