There is a timeline where russia took up this partnership with India on building India's next generation of airlift aircraft, the fact that we are not on that timeline is indicative how badly russia has failed at its geopolitical aims and of how irrelevant it has become to global heavy industry.

When it comes to military industrial power, everything comes back to a question of airlift capability eventually.

This also should be understood as a practical example of how India is genuinely maturing into a global military power.