Russia and India fall into the same category imo. Strategically useful and culturally more compatible but not trustworthy in the least.
Make no mistake about India they are very corrupt and their democracy is a "managed" one like Europe.
They are both useful in countering both China and Islam though.
It won't surprise me if China invades Russia instead of Taiwan first. Not in necessarily a 4th generation kinetic war but most definitely a 5th generation "movement for regional independence" similar to what Russia did to Ukraine circa 2014.