As per Ruslan Yunusov, chief executive and co-founder of the Russian Quantum Centre (RQC), a Russian non-governmental organization, part of its aim to develop quantum applications and hardware for public services involves partnering with Indian academic and research institutions. According to him, the Russian government would formally bring up the issue during the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit.

 

“We have not signed any official contracts and partnerships so far. However, next year, we’ll be discussing this on the platform of Brics. We’ve held and discussed potential ideas for mutual collaboration among scientists, and there is huge mutual interest among our countries," Yunusov said.

 

On July 13, he was speaking outside of a plenary session of the Future Technologies Forum, where Russian President Vladimir Putin was present.

 

“With Russia holding the Brics Presidency next year, we expect to discuss specific projects like this in several important areas with our partners, including cutting-edge computing technology, as well as data processing, storage and transmission technologies," Putin said. He also proposed a “national technology project" for 2030, which includes establishing a roadmap for Russian quantum technology development.

 

However, given the increased geopolitical tensions, it is now uncertain whether such alliances will materialize. Although several delegations from Russia have visited numerous institutions and government-affiliated departments in India during the past six months, according to a top official in the union government of India, nothing substantial has been inked. A prominent researcher in India agreed, saying that although there had been numerous talks about potential partnerships before last year, no official statement had been made as of yet.