Modi vows to deepen India-Russia ties despite Trump tariffs
India's prime minister described Vladimir Putin as a friend following a 'good and detailed' phone call that came days after the US president doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent because of the Russian oil trade.
'Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine,' Modi said in a post on X on Friday.
'We also reviewed the progress in our bilateral agenda, and reaffirmed our commitment to further deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.'
Peace talks in Alaska
Referring to India and Russia's annual bilateral summit, he added: 'I look forward to hosting President Putin in India later this year.'
In a joint statement issued later, the two leaders reaffirmed the commitment to their countries' partnership.
Putin is scheduled to meet Mr Trump in Alaska on August 15 for talks over the war in Ukraine. The tariffs placed on India by the US are aimed at pressuring India over its imports of Russian oil, the money from which is helping Putin fund his war.
Bur Mr Modi's comments suggest that despite the pressure from Mr Trump, India has no plans to pull away from Russia.
'The only big power that India is comfortable with is Russia,' Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst for India at International Crisis Group, told The Telegraph.
' Russia has been an all-weather ally of India. It's been a long and reliable friend. It is like a legacy relationship that goes back six decades and India cannot suddenly go out of that and cannot jump into the US and the West bandwagon.
'Trump is using that to put pressure on India by citing India's stance on the Russia -Ukraine war.'
Last week, Mr Trump described India and Russia's economies as 'dead', and accused India of not caring about those killed in the conflict in Ukraine.
And he has indicated that he may even pause trade talks with India until the oil issue is 'resolved'.
Rejecting the idea of speeding up negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement, he said: 'No, not until we get it resolved,' apparently referring to his demand that India cease importing Russian oil until the war in Ukraine is over.
Russia has expressed solidarity with India amid pressure from Mr Trump, who has imposed 50 per cent tariffs that are set to come into force on Aug 27.
'Sovereign countries have the right to choose their own trading partners,' Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said, criticising calls to 'force countries to sever trading relations' with Russia as 'illegitimate'.
India has defended its Russian oil purchases, calling it a move necessitated by 'global market conditions'.
Rajnath Singh, the Indian defence minister, has deferred an upcoming US visit for several months as the tariff dispute casts a shadow. It was originally scheduled for the last week of August.
On July 1, Pete Hegseth , the US Defence Secretary, had a phone call with Mr. Singh – their third this year – during which he invited him to the US for an in-person meeting to advance bilateral defence cooperation.
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