Partnership with Russia ‘resilient and steadfast'- Indian finance minister
'The Union Finance Minister observed that India and Russia enjoy exemplary levels of mutual trust and understanding and our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership remains resilient and steadfast,' the Indian Finance Ministry said in a post on X.
During the talks with Siluanov in Rio, Sitharaman also expressed gratitude for the support extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin to India after the April terror attack in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that claimed 26 lives.
Sitharaman also congratulated Russia for its successful chairmanship of BRICS in 2024 and said that India would continue to leverage the multilateral platform to build South-South cooperation in areas of common interest. The finance ministers discussed modalities of various initiatives recently taken up by BRICS members, Sitharaman said in her post on X.
Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman met H.E. Mr. Anton Siluanov, Finance Minister of Russia, on the sidelines of the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting #BRICSFMCBG, in Rio de Janeiro, today.The two leaders discussed… pic.twitter.com/scS6ptHlPG
The two sides also reviewed cooperation in the financial sector, along with matters related to the New Development Bank (NDB). The NDB was founded by BRICS in 2015 to address the needs of developing countries that, according to its members, are not equally represented in the international financial architecture. The Rio BRICS summit concluded with a joint declaration that criticized unilateral tariff actions and condemned 'indiscriminate' trade measures, without directly mentioning the United States.
A few hours later, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on any country which 'aligns itself' with BRICS, accusing the grouping of adopting 'anti-American policies.' New Delhi's long-standing ties with Moscow have irked Washington. In June, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said India's relations with Russia are a point of contention in its relationship with the US.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
Final preparations underway for Putin-Trump summit: Live updates
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are set to hold high-stakes talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict in Anchorage, Alaska. The negotiations, due to begin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday at around 20:00 GMT, will primarily focus on finding a settlement to the Ukraine conflict. According to Moscow, global 'peace and security' as well as 'further development of bilateral cooperation' in the economy and trade will also be on the agenda. In addition to Putin, the Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, and presidential economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who has been a key figure in the Ukraine settlement process. The US has yet to confirm the line-up of its delegation, although apart from Trump, it is expected to include Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy to Ukraine and the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Ahead of the talks, Moscow said it has a 'clear and well-defined' stance as well as arguments to present to the US side. Trump has described the summit as a 'feel-out meeting,' assessing that it has a 25% chance of failing. The US president has suggested that the talks could focus on a land swap deal between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow maintains it will not give up Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, which joined the country in public referendums in 2014 and 2022.
Russia Today
6 hours ago
- Russia Today
India's Modi warns Pakistan over ‘nuclear blackmail'
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a message to Pakistan over Islamabad's alleged threats to use nuclear weapons in the event of a military confrontation. In reference to a report that quoted Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir as saying the country has nuclear weapons and would 'take half the world down' with it, Modi said the Indian armed forces were ready for any conflict. 'Nuclear blackmail has been going on for a long time but now India won't tolerate the blackmailing,' Modi said on Friday in his Independence Day speech at Delhi's Red Fort. 'If our enemies persist in such attempts, our armed forces will respond, on their own terms, at a time of their choosing, and by achieving the objectives they set. We are ready to give a befitting reply.' Modi praised the Indian armed forces for their actions in the four-day military confrontation with Pakistan, codenamed Operation Sindoor. 'Destruction inflicted by our armed forces in Pakistan was so widespread, new revelations are being made every day,' he said, adding that India's neighbor was punished in ways 'beyond imagination.' 🇮🇳 79th #IndependenceDay: Modi Raises 🇮🇳 Flag at Red Fort for National Anthem On Wednesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke out against India's decision in May to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, a water-sharing agreement between the South Asian neighbors. 'I want to tell the enemy today that if you threaten to hold our water, then keep this in mind that you cannot snatch even one drop from Pakistan,' Sharif said. 'You threaten to stop our water. If you attempt such a move, Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget.' On Friday, Modi called the 1960 treaty that was facilitated by the World Bank as 'unjust and one-sided,' and said Indian farmers had the right to use water from the Indus River and its tributaries. 'What kind of agreement was it? In the last seven decades, farmers have suffered unimaginable losses,' he stated. 'The right to water belongs to India and to the farmers.' Modi added that 'blood and water won't flow together.'
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Russia Today
Everyone is to blame for Ukraine war
The conflict between Moscow and Kiev is a 'situation that should never have started,' US President Donald Trump has said, adding that 'everybody' involved is to blame for the hostilities. Trump made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to the press at the Oval Office. Asked whether the upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin or broader incentives for peace were a reward for Moscow, Trump reiterated his position that the conflict should have never happened in the first place. 'I think that we have a situation that should never have started, it should never have started. It didn't start under me, and for four years it wasn't even discussed,' he said, suggesting that all the parties, including the previous US leadership, were to blame for the enduring hostilities. 'Everything that we did was wrong. Everything that was done was wrong. Everybody's to blame. Putin's to blame. They're all to blame,' he added. Earlier this week, Trump rubbished the assessment that the summit with his Russian counterpart itself already counted as a victory for Moscow. 'Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin,' Trump said on Wednesday, slamming outlets for 'constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, 'Putin has already won.'' 'What's that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING,' he added, dismissing the critical reports as 'fake news.' The summit, scheduled for Friday, is expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict, as well as on a broader range of issues related to ties between the US and Russia. Washington and Moscow have both been cautious about their expectations, signaling the meeting was expected to be the first top-level event in a string of talks rather than yield an immediate breakthrough.
