Ashok Bagriya, India’s veteran legal journalist & former Legal Editor at Hindustan Times & CNN-News18, has been leading RT’s overseas office for delivering global news to the Indian audiences.
New Delhi, Delhi, India, December 2025 — Russian President Vladimir Putin officially launched RT’s (Russia Today) India branch during his visit to New Delhi, unveiling the network’s largest foreign venture to date. The inauguration, attended by senior dignitaries from both Russia and India alongside RT leadership, marked a new chapter in the broadcaster’s international expansion and underscored Russia’s deepening engagement with India.
Ashok Bagriya, India’s veteran legal journalist and former Legal Editor at Hindustan Times and CNN-News18, has been leading the development of Moscow-based RT’s biggest overseas office, overseeing the creation of a state-of-the-art studio, a cutting-edge newsroom, and a team of over 100 professionals, positioning the network as a major platform for delivering global news to the Indian audiences.
On the day of the launch, Bagriya held a closed-door discussion and interview with Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of Russia’s Sberbank, who announced a $100 million investment to expand the bank’s operations in India- highlighting the strategic and economic significance of the initiative and Russia-India trade cooperation.
RT India will roll out four daily English-language news programs, combining rigorous reporting with coverage of India-Russia relations, international developments, and the dynamics of a multipolar world. The channel reflects Russia’s strategy to strengthen ties with key partners and offer audiences an alternative perspective on global affairs.
The launch comes after the state-run network, formerly known as Russia Today, faced widespread bans in Western countries following the Ukraine conflict. In this context, RT India represents both a strategic pivot and a statement: engaging one of the world’s largest media markets and providing a platform often absent in Western outlets.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Peskov praised the milestone, saying “I would like to sincerely congratulate the magnificent RT team and its viewers for launching your broadcast in India. Sometimes it’s better to lose the right to broadcast in the small democracies, so-called democracies, and launch in the biggest one.”
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