In high-level bilateral talks prior to the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to boosting bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030 while addressing India’s $50 billion trade imbalance through expanded Indian exports in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and engineering. Defense ties were reinforced with discussions surrounding the supply and co-production of Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets and upgrades to the BrahMos missile system. On the agricultural front, BRICS member nations agreed to establish the BRICS Agro-Inputs, Genetic Resources, and Information Network (BRICS AGRIN) and a dedicated agri-portal to streamline seed sharing, digital farming, and regional trade. However, a granular joint study by the Koan Advisory Group and the Institute of Chinese Studies revealed that India’s strategic dependence on China for core electronic components has deepened, with 71 product lines, including lithium-ion batteries and switching equipment, relying on China for over 80% of imports. The study underscored that this structural trade deficit cannot be resolved merely through local assembly line expansions without domesticizing upstream component manufacturing.