Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the India-Russia Business Forum, in New Delhi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Moscow will ensure “uninterrupted fuel supply” to India, President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, even as United States President Donald Trump claimed success in persuading New Delhi to slash oil imports from Russia.
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Modi and Putin agreed on a “Programme for the Development of Strategic Areas of Economic Cooperation till 2030” – signalling the intent of New Delhi and Moscow to boost two-way trade and investment over the next five years, even as India drew flak from the United States and the rest of the West for continuing to do business with Russia even after it launched its ‘special military operations’ in Ukraine. In a move to continue bilateral commerce despite the sanctions imposed by Washington, D.C., and the European Union on Russia, New Delhi and Moscow also agreed to jointly develop “systems of bilateral settlements through the use of national currencies” to ensure uninterrupted trade between the two nations.
They also agreed to speed up negotiations for a mutually beneficial bilateral agreement on the promotion and protection of investments.
The two leaders noted the current and potential cooperation between Indian and Russian companies in the fields, such as oil and oil products, oil refining and petrochemical technologies, oilfield services and upstream technologies and related infrastructure, LNG and LPG related infrastructure, various existing projects in their countries, underground coal gasification technology and nuclear projects, according to a joint statement issued after the 23rd India-Russia summit in New Delhi.
The summit saw the two sides sign a MoU on cooperation in curbing irregular migration, as well as another to clear the way for Indians and Russians to engage in temporary labour activity in each other’s country.
Putin shared with Modi his views on the 28-point peace plan Trump recently put forward to halt the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He had a long meeting with Trump’s envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – in Moscow earlier this week, but the talks did not result in a breakthrough. Witkoff and Kushner will soon hold a meeting with a senior aide of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Miami. Modi said that India had consistently advocated for peace in Ukraine and would continue to welcome all efforts being made for a peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict.
“Over the past eight decades, the world has witnessed many ups and downs. Humanity has faced numerous challenges and crises. Yet, through all of these, the India-Russia friendship has remained as steady as the pole star,” Modi said as he and Putin addressed the media-persons after holding the summit at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. “Built on mutual respect and deep trust, our relationship has stood the test of time”.
“Our discussions on key global and regional issues have reaffirmed the similarity of our countries’ positions. Russia and India pursue an independent and sovereign foreign policy,” said Putin.
Trump had on August 6 announced an additional 25% tariff – on top of the 25% levied earlier – on India’s exports to the US, in a move to dissuade the South Asian nation from buying oil from Russia. He and his aides had accused India of funding Putin’s war in Ukraine by continuing to buy oil from Russia, defying the sanctions the US and the European Union had imposed on the former Soviet Union nation.
Russia’s share in India’s total crude oil imports rose from less than 2% before the launch of its war in Ukraine in 2022 to around 40% by 2023–24. But imports from Russia came down from over 2 million barrels per day in June 2025 to 1.6 million barrels per day in September 2025. The imports saw a rebound in October and the first half of November, but fell by nearly 30% after the stringent US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil of Russia came into effect on November 21.
Trump has been claiming over the past several weeks that he had succeeded in persuading India to slash its oil imports from Russia.
“Russia is a reliable supplier of energy resources and everything India needs for developing its energy sector. We are ready to continue ensuring uninterrupted fuel supplies for the Indian economy to support its rapid expansion,” Putin said after meeting Modi, who noted: “Energy security has been a strong and vital pillar of the India-Russia partnership.”
The prime minister said that the programme for India-Russia economic cooperation by 2030, adopted by the two sides, would make the bilateral trade and investment “more diversified, balanced, and sustainable”.
“This comprehensive roadmap provides clear guidelines,” Putin said, adding: “Our intergovernmental commission and the relevant economic ministries and agencies are tasked with removing barriers to the flows of goods and capital, implementing joint industrial projects, and deepening our collaboration in technology and investment.”
India has been conveying to Russia its concerns over the trade deficit widening from $6.6 billion to $58.9 billion, along with a five-fold rise in bilateral trade in goods from $13 billion in 2021 to $68 billion in 2024-25, well on course to reach $100 billion by 2030 – a target set by Modi and Putin earlier, despite the sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union on the former Soviet Union nation, to restrict its business with other nations, in response to its military aggression against Ukraine.
Putin noted that Russia and India had been conducting 96% of mutual transactions in national currencies, and the two countries had developed resilient interbank channels for lending and financial transactions. The Russian economic actors have been making wider use of the Indian Rupees they generate from export contracts, and major joint projects receive their funding in Russian Rubles, he said.
“Freedom of trade is unthinkable without a stable system of bilateral payments and reliable payment and insurance mechanisms. The use of national currencies also offers tangible advantages. This ensures uninterrupted financial transactions regardless of the external environment,” Putin later said at a Russia-India business event.