India signals no oil import cut from Russia, ‘eagerly’ awaits Putin visit
‘1.4 billion Indians are eagerly waiting for you,’ India’s Narendra Modi tells Vladimir Putin during ‘excellent’ meeting on SCO sidelines
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that the two countries should deepen cooperation “in all sectors”.
The remark was a strong indication that New Delhi would not cut back on crude oil imports from Russia despite pressure from the US.
And in a social media post minutes after what he described as an “excellent” meeting, Modi said: “Discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all sectors, including trade, fertilisers, space, security and culture.”
Trump has reportedly cancelled plans to visit India later this year. His decision follows New Delhi’s refusal to stop purchases of discounted Russian oil, which has prompted Washington to double trade tariffs and sent bilateral ties to an all-time low.
Putin, meanwhile, is expected to visit India in December for the latest annual bilateral summit. The mechanism of regular dialogue between the Indian and Russian leaders was established in 2000, and the previous edition took place in July last year in Moscow.
“Even in the most difficult circumstances, India and Russia have always stood shoulder to shoulder,” Modi said.
Putin also praised the “multifaceted” Russia-India relationship, describing it as “actively developing”.
“We closely coordinate our efforts on the international stage, including the United Nations, Brics, G20 and, of course, the SCO,” the Russian president said in his opening remarks. He also hailed his meeting with Modi as “symbolic”.
According to a statement from the Indian foreign ministry, the two leaders “discussed bilateral cooperation, including in the economic, financial, and energy sectors and expressed satisfaction with the sustained growth in bilateral ties in these areas”.
The meeting comes as India and the United States grapple with trade tensions and a diplomatic row, and as New Delhi’s growing partnership with Moscow draws close scrutiny from the White House.
The US implemented a 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports starting last Wednesday, framing it as a penalty for India’s continued purchase of Russian crude, which is subject to a broad range of Western sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
India is among the biggest buyers of oil from Russia, which is the world’s No 2 exporter after Saudi Arabia.
India would “neither bow down nor ever appear weak”, the country’s trade minister, Piyush Goyal, said on Friday, adding that New Delhi would instead focus on ways to “capture new markets”.
According to a New York Times report on Saturday, Modi’s refusal to endorse Trump’s pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize played an “outsize” role in souring relations between the two nations.
The report, which cited people familiar with the US president’s schedule, added that Trump no longer planned to visit India in the autumn for the Quad summit. The leaders of the two other member states, Japan and Australia, are expected to attend.
Four days before the Times article, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Modi had declined to talk to Trump over the phone multiple times in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Putin continues to face pressure from Washington, as well as Kyiv and other European capitals, to hold talks with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, following his summit with Trump in Alaska last month.
Modi spoke with Zelensky by phone on Saturday, two days ahead of his meeting with Putin in Tianjin. “India is ready to … deliver the appropriate signal to Russia,” the Ukrainian leader said in a post about his call with Modi.
According to the Indian foreign ministry, Modi and Putin “discussed regional and global issues, including the latest developments concerning Ukraine”.
The Indian prime minister “reiterated his support for the recent initiatives that have been taken to address the conflict in Ukraine, and emphasised the need to expedite a cessation of the conflict and find a durable peace settlement”, the ministry’s statement said.
Modi also repeatedly highlighted his closeness with Putin during his time in the northern Chinese city. He posted photos of them embracing before the official meeting of SCO leaders, with the caption: “Always a delight to meet President Putin!”
Live-stream footage showed the pair walking into the summit venue hand in hand.
After the morning session at the SCO summit, Modi shared photos of himself and Putin travelling together in the same car to their bilateral meeting venue, noting that “conversations with him are always insightful”.
That seemed to mirror the visuals of Trump and Putin in the US presidential vehicle on the way to their summit venue in Anchorage last month.
Picking China as the location for the Modi-Putin talks also speaks volumes amid changing global geopolitical dynamics.
Beijing is widely seen as leveraging the SCO summit to showcase its growing influence among Global South countries and to emphasise solidarity among major non-Western nations.
Both New Delhi and Moscow highlighted their leaders’ three-way chat with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit.
Bound by a shared grievance over Trump’s tariff policies, relations between the world’s two most populous nations warmed noticeably during what was Modi’s first visit to China in seven years.
Xi told Modi that border issues should not be the defining factor in ties between the neighbours when they met for bilateral talks on Sunday, according to state news agency Xinhua.
China-India ties could be “stable and far-reaching” if they saw each other as partners instead of rivals, Xi added.
According to a press release from his office, Modi noted that “India and China both pursue strategic autonomy, and their relations should not be seen through a third-country lens”. The interests of 2.8 billion people of both countries were linked to their cooperation, he added.