Russia said more than 70,000 Indian nationals are currently employed in the country, highlighting growing cooperation with India on labour mobility as businesses face demand for workers across multiple industries, TASS writes.
Speaking at a Labour Mobility Forum, Russia's chargé d'affaires ad interim in India, Roman Babushkin, said the number of Indian workers in Russia had risen to more than 70,000, according to estimates cited by the diplomat.
Babushkin said Russian regions and businesses were seeking Indian workers for a broad range of sectors, including agriculture, construction, housing and public utilities, mining, oil and gas, rail transport, metallurgy, shipbuilding, textiles, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, information and communications technology (ICT), and services.
He described labour mobility as a relatively new area of Russia-India cooperation that could play an important role in strengthening the countries' "special and privileged strategic partnership" while boosting trade and diversifying economic ties.
Babushkin also pointed to two intergovernmental agreements signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to New Delhi in December 2025. The agreements cover cooperation in combating illegal migration and the temporary employment of each country's citizens in the other's territory.
He said labour mobility was becoming an integral part of the Russia-India dialogue and called for a more systematic approach to ensure migration remained regulated, transparent and responsible.
Babushkin also proposed creating a dedicated coordination mechanism and continuing work on improving the legal framework, including drafting a new agreement on the organised recruitment of Indian workers.
By Aghakazim Guliyev
