Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of a regional summit in China on Monday in a show of rapprochement as New Delhi's relations with Washington are strained over its purchase of Russian oil.
The two leaders held talks after attending a key session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in the port city of Tianjin, where discussions focused on regional stability, bilateral trade and energy cooperation.
In his opening remarks, Modi called the partnership with Moscow “special and privileged.” Putin addressed Modi as a “dear friend” and praised Russia’s ties with India as special, friendly, and trusting.
“Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades. Friendly, trusting. This is the basis for the development of our relations in the future,” Putin said. “These relations are absolutely nonpartisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our countries.”
Appointment in New Delhi
Putin plans to travel to India in December for the 23rd annual India-Russia summit, according to his foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.
Modi used the meeting to celebrate peace initiatives aimed at halting the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and called on stakeholders to move forward constructively.
"To end the conflict as soon as possible and establish peace permanently, we need to find a solution. It is a call of all humanity," Modi said.
During the talks, Putin was accompanied by a large delegation that included senior government officials. Russian state media reported that before sitting down for their formal conversation, Putin and Modi spoke one-on-one for nearly an hour in an Aurus, a high-end Russian-made limousine that Putin frequently uses on his trips abroad.
The meeting had added significance as it came days after US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports, bringing total duties to a steep 50%, in retaliation for India's continued purchases of discounted Russian oil.
Washington has repeatedly warned New Delhi against buying Russian crude oil, which it said was partly keeping Moscow afloat to finance the war in Ukraine. India has defended its imports as essential to meet the growing energy needs of its 1.4 billion people.
Modi traveled to Russia twice last year. The first was a visit to Moscow for talks with Putin in July, which was his first trip to Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Kremlin forces in February 2022. He then traveled to Kazan in October for the summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies.
Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhi's importance as a key trading partner has grown since the war between Moscow and Ukraine.
China and India have become key buyers of Russian oil after the West rejected Russian exports to punish Moscow.
Historically, India bought most of its crude oil from the Middle East, but the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States has begun buying Russian oil available at discounted prices. Russia now accounts for about 37 percent of India's total oil imports, according to Indian analysts and officials.
Trade between India and Russia has increased dramatically in recent years, reaching a record $68.7 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year amid strong energy cooperation. Imports from Russia reached around $64 billion, and exports from India totaled around $5 billion, according to Indian government data.
India's fiscal year runs from April to March. The two nations aim to increase trade to $100 billion by 2030.
Modi's meeting with Putin underscored New Delhi's stance that India values its long-standing and reliable strategic partners and has sufficient strategic autonomy in its foreign policy to maintain and strengthen their multidimensional partnership, said Sreeram Sundar Chaulia, an international affairs expert at the Jindal School of International Affairs in New Delhi.
At the same time, the Indian government hopes that the current climate of tension between India and the United States is a temporary anomaly, Chaulia said.
“So, India can happily have its Russian cake and eat its American cake again as part of its multi-alignment strategy,” Chaulia said.
