Amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict and matters concerning India-Russia ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on Friday to discuss a range of issues.
The call also held significance as it came amid heightened tensions between India and the United States over US President Donald Trump slapping punitive tariffs on Indian goods.
Kremlin has reportedly confirmed that Putin and PM Modi discussed trade, economic and investment cooperation, news agency Reuters reported. They also reportedly spoke about Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff visiting Moscow this week.
Follow live updates on Trump’s tariffs on Indian imports.
Not just trade and bilateral ties, the two leaders also discussed the Ukraine conflict, Modi said, thanking Putin for sharing the latest developments on the crisis.
“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,” a part of PM Modi’s tweet read.
The phone call between the two leaders came amid Trump pointing fingers at the trade between India and Russia. The US President has been targeting India for buying oil and military equipment from Russia, calling it ‘Russia’s largest buyer of energy’.
Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports last week, and hiked the duties to 50 per cent in another announcement a few days later. Half of the announced levies have been imposed, and the deadline for the additional 25 per cent tariffs is August 27.
Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval met Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, and the two leaders spoke on a range of issues, including the bilateral military-technical cooperation.
“The parties discussed topical issues of #RussiaIndia military-technical cooperation, as well as the implementation of joint projects in other strategic sectors, including civil aircraft manufacturing, metallurgy, and the chemical industry,” the Russian embassy posted on X.
India has earlier clarified that decisions on sourcing energy is “guided by what is on offer in markets and prevailing global situation”. Similarly, New Delhi stated last week that sourcing of defence requirements depends on national security imperatives and strategic assessments. India had said that it has shared a time-tested friendship with Russia.
