{"id":614827,"date":"2025-12-06T00:08:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T00:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614827\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T00:08:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T00:08:25","slug":"putin-and-modi-discuss-economic-ties-at-russia-india-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614827\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin and Modi discuss economic ties at Russia-India summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at an annual summit and agreed to diversify mutual economic ties, as the United States presses India to revise its decades-old partnership with Russia.<\/p>\n

The 23rd Russia-India Summit comes at a pivotal moment as the U.S. pushes for a Ukraine peace deal<\/a> while seeking global cooperation. It will test New Delhi\u2019s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine grinds on. <\/p>\n

Putin was received by Modi<\/a> at an airport in New Delhi on Thursday. The Indian leader gave Putin a bear hug and a tight handshake with the gusto of an old friend. <\/p>\n

Leaders outline Russia-India expanding ties<\/p>\n

After the talks, Putin and Modi announced that India and Russia have finalized an economic cooperation program until 2030, which will help diversify mutual businesses to boost annual trade to $100 billion by 2030. They also emphasized strong energy ties.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Putin and Modi held talks and announce expansion of Russia-India trade ties amid US pressure\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin and India\u2019s Narendra Modi are holding their annual summit, with topics including defense.<\/p>\n

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $68.7 billion in the last fiscal year ended March. The trade is heavily skewed in favor of Russia with deep deficits for India, which it is looking to bridge by pushing exports.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo achieve this significant goal, a program for the development of Russian-Indian economic cooperation until 2030 has been agreed upon,\u201d Putin said. He said work is underway on an agreement for India to establish a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union, a Moscow-dominated economic grouping of several ex-Soviet nations, adding that it could help increase trade.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRussia is a reliable supplier of energy resources and everything necessary for the development of India\u2019s energy sector,\u201d Putin said. \u201cWe are ready to continue ensuring the uninterrupted supply of fuel for the rapidly growing Indian economy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Before the summit talks, the Russian leader said the two countries \u201chave a very trusting relationship when it comes to military-technical cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modi said after the talks that the two countries will work toward early conclusion of a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union. He also announced that India will soon start issuing free electronic visas for Russian tourists and groups visiting the country.<\/p>\n

The Indian leader said energy security has long anchored India-Russia ties, with civil nuclear cooperation spanning decades. He added that such cooperation will continue, alongside collaboration in clean energy, shipbuilding, fertilizers and labor mobility.<\/p>\n

US seeks to push India away from Russia<\/p>\n

While India has historically maintained deep ties with Russia, critics say Putin\u2019s visit could strain relations with the European Union and the United States and might jeopardize negotiations for major trade agreements with both that are seen as critical for India\u2019s exports.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50%<\/a> in August, citing New Delhi\u2019s discounted Russian oil. India has been the second biggest importer of Russian crude after China.<\/p>\n

The U.S. says purchases of Russian oil help finance Moscow\u2019s war machine. In October, the U.S. sanctioned two of Moscow\u2019s biggest oil producers to force countries like India to cut down on imports. Indian officials have said New Delhi has always abided by international sanctions and would do so in the case of Russia oil purchases.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters that the recent sanctions imposed on Russian oil were discussed.<\/p>\n

Without specifying India\u2019s position on its purchases, Misri said the government\u2019s priority was to secure the energy needs of its 1.4 billion people. <\/p>\n

Misri said India\u2019s private and state-run oil companies make decisions based on evolving market dynamics and commercial issues they confront while sourcing supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing our cooperation between the two countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

India and the U.S. set a target for the first tranche of a trade deal by the fall, but the deal hasn\u2019t come through yet amid strains in relations, mainly because of New Delhi\u2019s unabated imports of Russian crude. <\/p>\n

India is also in the final stages of talks on a trade agreement with the EU, which sees Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine as a major threat.<\/p>\n

Given the timing and geopolitical context, Putin\u2019s India visit \u201cunderscores New Delhi\u2019s strategic tightrope walk between the West and the rest, chiefly Russia,\u201d said Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group.<\/p>\n

Donthi said India\u2019s tilt toward Russia dates back to the Cold War and persists despite its official nonaligned position. \u201cThe significant change now is its desire to be a strategic partner with the U.S. at the same time, which will be a diplomatic challenge,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Defense and trade expansion on cards<\/p>\n

Indian officials earlier said that Modi in the meeting with Putin would push for faster delivery of two further Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. It has already received three under a 2018 deal<\/a> worth about $5.4 billion. The delay has been tied to supply chain disruptions linked to the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Misri said the defense ministers of India and Russia met Thursday.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement following the summit, the two sides said they have agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts and components for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defense equipment. This would be done through transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures.<\/p>\n

India and Russia signed a pact in February to improve military cooperation, exercises, port calls, disaster relief assistance and logistics support. Moscow\u2019s State Duma ratified the same ahead of Putin\u2019s India visit.<\/p>\n

India is also expecting to upgrade its Russian-made Su-30MKI fighter jets and accelerate deliveries of critical military hardware.<\/p>\n

India is keen to increase exports of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles to Russia and is seeking the removal of non-tariff barriers. New Delhi is also seeking long-term supplies of fertilizers from Moscow. <\/p>\n

Another key area where the two countries hope to finalize an agreement is the safety and regulation of skilled Indian migrant workers to Russia.<\/p>\n

Putin last visited India in 2021. Modi was in Moscow last year, and the two leaders briefly met<\/a> in September in China during a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Hussain reported from Srinagar, India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW DELHI (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[11410,32,26934,4179,730,73813,8614,3058,2301,22817,50003,285,136579,332,30275,5214,657,106495,333,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-614827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-asia-pacific","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-energy-industry","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-india","13":"tag-india-government","14":"tag-international-agreements","15":"tag-international-trade","16":"tag-moscow","17":"tag-narendra-modi","18":"tag-new-delhi","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-praveen-donthi","21":"tag-russia","22":"tag-south-asia","23":"tag-tariffs-and-global-trade","24":"tag-ukraine","25":"tag-vikram-misri","26":"tag-vladimir-putin","27":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115669717282577020","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}