Putin signs off on labor mobility pact with India

The treaty, ratified by the Duma and the Federation Council, makes it easier for workers from one country to take up jobs in the other

Russia has completed the ratification of its labor agreement with India, with President Vladimir Putin signing the document on Monday. The pact, which eases the procedures for hiring temporary employees, comes as Moscow seeks more Indian workers to address labor shortages.

The State Duma approved the pact on October 1, followed by the Federation Council a day later.

The agreement covers Indians working in Russia and Russians employed in India under employment or service contracts. It also applies to full-time students taking temporary jobs outside their studies.

"Russia is facing a labour shortage, which has become the main factor holding back economic development,” researchers at the India Lab at the Moscow School of Management, Igor Gundobin and Lydia Kulik, wrote in a report titled ‘Human Capital in India and Russia: In Search for Complementarity’.

“India sees itself as a talent pool for the global economy for the coming decades and is actively pursuing the opportunities for educational and labour migration with all its key partners.

“The strategies of India and Russia are thus complementary, and their demographic structures are mutually reinforcing,” they added.

Russian authorities have estimated an immediate shortage of at least 2.3 million workers in the country. Sberbank, its largest bank, has called for easier entry procedures for Indian workers to help address shortages in the construction industry.

Moscow has agreed to accept around 70,000 skilled Indian workers in 2026, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told a parliamentary panel earlier this month.

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The labor agreement was signed in New Delhi last December during Putin’s visit to India. The two countries also signed a separate accord to combat irregular migration and approved a program to expand economic cooperation through 2030.

Workers will still need employment permits and must work in the jobs for which those permits were issued. The agreement requires foreign employees to receive pay and working conditions no less favorable than those offered to local workers in comparable positions.

Employees laid off because of business closures or staff reductions will be entitled to compensation under local laws. Pension, social security, and medical insurance provisions will also be governed by host-country legislation and applicable bilateral agreements.

The agreement will formally take effect once both governments complete the required domestic procedures and exchange written notifications.