NSA Ajit Doval in Moscow amid Trump tariff threats over India's Russian oil buys. What's on the agenda?
An anonymous source told Russia's state-run news agency TASS that Doval is expected to have 'several meetings' with Russian officials on Thursday, 7 August. Doval reached Moscow on Tuesday, according to Russian media.
"A series of meetings is planned for August 7," the source said in TASS report. Doval was in Moscow last year in September.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is also scheduled to visit Moscow later this month.
While Doval and Jaishankar's are part of routine annual consultations and were scheduled well in advance, they come against the backdrop of growing tensions in India-US relations over New Delhi's ties with Moscow.
After imposing a steep 25 per cent tariff on India, Trump on Tuesday threatened to raise it 'substantially' over New Delhi's refusal to stop buying Russian oil. On Monday, too, Trump had warned that he would raise the tariff on India 'substantially', saying that India was not only buying 'massive amounts of Russian oil' but also selling it 'on the open market for big profits'.
Washington argues that India — along with China — is helping President Vladimir Putin fund his war in Ukraine through those purchases. New Delhi has defended its position, saying criticism from the US and European Union about India's trade with Russia was 'unjustified and unreasonable.' It highlighted that the EU and US continue to buy energy and other materials from Russia when 'such trade is not even a national compulsion.'
Over the years, Modi has maintained close ties with Putin, having visited Russia in October. The Russian president is expected to visit India later this year — a trip that will likely be on the agenda during Doval and Jaishankar's discussions in Moscow, Bloomberg reported
Amid rising tensions with Trump, India last week reaffirmed its 'steady and time-tested partnership' with Moscow and has not, so far, instructed its oil refiners to stop buying Russian oil.
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