NEW DELHI
:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to further deepening bilateral ties between India and Russia.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen ties during a telephone conversation, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement on Friday.
The move comes after India was targeted by the US President Donald Trump on 6 August with an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods for directly or indirectly buying crude oil from Russia, saying it undermined U.S. efforts to counter Russia’s actions in Ukraine, a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy.
Deeper ties between India and Russia suggest greater cooperation among BRICS nations in the face of Trump tariffs.
President Putin briefed the prime minister on the latest developments concerning Ukraine, the statement said. While thanking President Putin for his detailed assessment, the prime minister reiterated India’s consistent position for peaceful resolution of the conflict, the statement said.
“The two leaders also reviewed progress in the bilateral agenda, and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia,” the statement said. Modi also invited President Putin to India later this year for the 23rd India-Russia annual summit, the statement said.
“I look forward to hosting President Putin in India later this year,” Modi said in a social media post.
Tariffs and Rising Oil Imports from Russia
On Tuesday, Russia accused the US of exerting illegal trade pressure on India, just before the additional 25% tariff was signed off by Trump.
“We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia,” Reuters reported, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “We do not consider such statements to be legal.”
With the additional 25% tariff, the White House aims to deter countries from supporting the Russian Federation’s economy through oil imports and impose serious economic consequences on the Russian Federation for its ongoing aggressions, the US administration said after the tariff hike decision.
India called the decision unfair, unjustifiable, and unreasonable and said it would take all necessary actions to protect its national interest.
Since 2022, India has increasingly ramped up its crude oil imports from Russia as demand from the latter’s traditional offtakers dried up amid sanctions tied to its invasion of Ukraine, Moody’s Ratings said on Friday.
India has been able to procure at least some of its purchases of Russian oil at below global prices, which has helped insulate India’s inflation from the pass-through of global commodity price movements, while pre-empting pressures on its current account deficit, the rating agency said.
India’s imports of Russian crude rose to $56.8 billion in 2024 from $2.8 billion in 2021, corresponding to a rise in India’s share of total crude oil imports to 35.5% from 2.2%, it said.
Moody’s also said Trump’s executive order stipulated an effective date of 21 days after the signing of the order, indicating room for further negotiations in the coming weeks.
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