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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi have vowed to deepen their co-operation in trade, defence and areas such as critical minerals, nuclear energy and high-tech manufacturing.
Meeting in New Delhi on Friday during Putin’s first trip to the Indian capital in four years, the Indian and Russian leaders reaffirmed a “strategic partnership” that has drawn criticism from US President Donald Trump.
The two leaders pledged to increase bilateral trade to $100bn by 2030 from a record $69bn in the year ending in March 2025. Crude oil and petroleum products dominated India’s $64bn in imports from Russia last year, but have been denounced by Trump for helping to fund Putin’s war machine in Ukraine.
In a short address after their bilateral meeting, Putin said Russia was “a reliable supplier of oil” to India and was “ready to provide uninterrupted fuel supplies”.
Modi, who in a rare gesture had personally welcomed the Russian president at the airport on Thursday, said energy security had been a “strong and vital pillar of the India‑Russia partnership”.
But the Indian prime minister made no mention of oil purchases, stressing instead the value of the two countries’ long-standing co-operation in civil nuclear energy. “We will continue this win‑win collaboration,” he said.
A joint statement after the summit said both sides “noted the current and potential co-operation between Indian and Russian companies in fields such as oil and oil products”, but gave no details.
In August, Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods as punishment for India’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing Washington’s total levies against New Delhi to 50 per cent.
India became Moscow’s largest buyer of seaborne crude after Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, but amid the pressure from Washington, Indian refiners have in recent months been slashing their purchases.
Modi said New Delhi’s ties with Moscow had “stood the test of time”.
“Today we discussed strengthening this foundation in every aspect of co-operation. Elevating economic collaboration to new heights is our shared priority,” he said, highlighting, in particular, co-operation on critical minerals, global supplies of which are at present dominated by China.
“Our collaboration in critical minerals is crucial to ensure secure and diversified supply chains worldwide. This will provide solid support to our partnership in clean energy, high‑tech manufacturing and new‑age industries,” Modi said.
In their joint statement, the two sides said they had agreed a shift in their long-standing and close defence links.
“Responding to India’s quest for self-reliance, the partnership is reorienting presently to joint research and development, co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems,” it said.
Russia would transfer technology to encourage joint manufacturing in India of parts and components for defence equipment, and the two sides would promote the “setting up of joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian Armed Forces as well as subsequent export”, it said.
Putin’s visit comes while India is negotiating trade deals with the US and the EU.
“India’s strategic interests require strong relationships with both the US and Russia,” said Brahma Chellaney, an international security specialist at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.
“India’s long-standing partnership with Russia remains a model of consistency and mutual benefit, a stark counterpoint to the more uneven and sometimes punitive tenor of US policy towards New Delhi,” Chellaney said.
In an interview with India Today ahead of his visit, Putin described Russia’s latest talks with US negotiators about securing an end to the war in Ukraine as “useful” but “difficult”, restating his aim to seize more Ukrainian territory and signalling no intention of agreeing to a peace deal soon.
On Friday, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the negotiations were “making progress”, state news agencies reported.
“This is encouraging, and we are ready to continue working with this American team,” they quoted Ushakov as saying.
The Kremlin was now awaiting the US side’s reaction to the latest talks, he said.
In his remarks, Modi welcomed “all efforts being made to find a peaceful and lasting solution” to the war.
