PM Modi speaks to Putin, leaders reaffirm commitment to deepening bilateral ties

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin discussed bilateral trade and economic relations during a phone call on Friday – just days after President Donald Trump not only criticised New Delhi for buying oil and weapons from Russia but also doubled the tariff on India’s exports to the United States.

Modi and Putin reviewed progress in the bilateral agenda and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between India and Russia, according to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi. They exchanged views on “key bilateral issues, including cooperation in trade, economy, and investment,” the office of the President of Russia stated in Moscow.

“Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine,” Modi posted on X.

“We also reviewed the progress in our bilateral agenda and reaffirmed our commitment to further deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. I look forward to hosting President Putin in India later this year.”

Modi and Putin will hold the annual India-Russia summit in New Delhi later this year. Putin’s visit to New Delhi was on the agenda of the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s discussion with the senior officials in the Kremlin during his recent visit to Moscow. Doval also called on Putin. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also visit Moscow later this month and meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov, added the sources in New Delhi.

Putin shared with Modi the key outcomes of his meeting with the US President's special envoy Steven Witkoff, held in Moscow on August 6. The prime minister thanked the President of Russia for the information and reaffirmed India's consistent position in favour of a political and diplomatic settlement of the situation around Ukraine.

Earlier, on July 30, while announcing a 25% tariff on all goods exported by India to the US, Trump had also slammed New Delhi for buying defence hardware and energy from Russia, despite the former Soviet Union nation’s special military operations in Ukraine. He followed it up on July 31, calling India’s economy ‘dead’ and even announcing a trade deal with its neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan.

He said on August 1 that he had heard that India would take a “good step” and stop buying crude oil from Russia. New Delhi did not confirm or deny any move on its part to stop buying hydrocarbons from Russia, but said that it would make decisions based on the energy prices in the international market and depending on the global situation.

Trump announced on August 6 an additional 25% tariff on the US exports from India, slamming the South Asian nation for continuing to purchase oil from Russia.

Despite drawing flak from Washington, D.C., and the rest of the West, India had not only continued its trade with Russia, defying the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on the former Soviet Union nation, after the launch of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, but also raised its hydrocarbon imports from Russia over the past few months.

India’s purchase of oil from Russia rose from 2.1% of its total imports in 2021-22 to 35.10% in 2024-25. The three biggest buyers of Russian fossil fuels, China (EUR 78 bn), India (EUR 49 bn), and Turkey (EUR 34 bn) were responsible for 74% of Russia’s total revenues from fossil fuels in the third year of the war in Ukraine, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).