India and Russia are expanding their decades-old partnership in the space sector, with a renewed focus on human spaceflight and advanced launch technologies.Sergei Krikalev, deputy chief executive officer for human space programmes at Russia's space agency Roscosmos, recently visited India to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation, including crewed missions, with Isro chairman V Narayanan, according to people familiar with the matter.Krikalev also participated in the meeting of Brics space agency heads in Bengaluru on June 23-24. Hosted by Isro, the meeting brought together senior officials from the 11-member bloc to discuss space sustainability, expansion of the Brics Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and the proposed Brics Space Council.India's first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, is scheduled for launch no earlier than 2027. While Isro is developing the spacecraft indigenously, Roscosmos has played a key role in training Indian astronauts.