India Russia Relations: Russian President Vladimir Putin has openly praised India’s economic independence and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that India always takes decisions as a sovereign country and any attempt to impose sanctions or pressure on it could backfire. He also said that India-Russia relations are not dependent on political circumstances and defense and technical cooperation between the two countries is continuously strengthening.

India always takes decisions like a sovereign nation

During his address at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin said that India always acts like a sovereign country. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, any attempt to impose sanctions or put pressure on India can immediately backfire. Putin said that he has been in continuous talks with Prime Minister Modi for a long time.

India takes decisions based on national interests

Putin said that India always gives priority to its national interests and the country has complete freedom to decide what is best for it. He said that India is free to choose those products and technologies which it considers to be most modern, useful and having better price-quality ratio.

India-US relations also described as successful

The Russian President said that relations between India and America are also progressing successfully. He also said that all the sanctions imposed against India have ended. It is noteworthy that during the Russia-Ukraine war, America had imposed additional duties and restrictive measures on India for purchasing oil from Russia.

BrahMos missile project mentioned

Putin also appreciated the defense and technical cooperation between India and Russia. He said that there is a long history of military and technical cooperation between the two countries and a large part of the Indian armed forces is equipped with Russian equipment. Putin said that this tradition has been going on since the times of the Soviet Union. He said that experts from India and Russia are working together on the development and design of medium-range BrahMos missile.

India-Russia relations are based on trust

The Russian President said that Russia’s relations with India are based on mutual trust. He said that both the countries are not limited to just trade or buying and selling, but are also working together on joint research and development projects.

Relationships are not affected by the political environment

Putin clearly said that relations between India and Russia are not subject to any political environment or international circumstances. He said that no country can direct Russia whether it should cooperate with India or not.

Russia will continue to keep the promises made to India

Vladimir Putin said that Russia always honors the promises made to its partners. He said that Russia will stick to its commitments towards important partners like India and cooperation between the two countries will continue to strengthen in the future.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday (October 21) questioned the Central Government as to why US President Donald Trump is repeatedly saying that he has talked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about buying oil from Russia.

Jairam Ramesh said that Trump has repeated this claim three times in the last five days and this number may increase as he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest this week. He said that Trump is saying that he spoke to Modi and India promised to stop buying oil from Russia, while the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has rejected this.

Trump warned India

Trump had also said on Monday that if India continues to buy oil from Russia, heavy tariffs will continue to be imposed on it. He told the media, “I spoke to Prime Minister Modi and he said that he will not buy Russian oil. But if he says so, he will continue to buy, then he will continue to pay heavy tariffs.”

Foreign Ministry had already refused the phone call

The Ministry of External Affairs had already clarified that there was no recent phone call between Modi and Trump on October 15. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the two leaders had spoken over phone only on October 9, in which Modi congratulated Trump on the success of the Gaza peace plan and reviewed trade talks. Jaiswal also said that India’s stance on energy policy is based on national interests and safety of citizens.

Trump’s statement is being seen in the context of pressure from Western countries to reduce energy relations with Russia after the Ukraine crisis. India has said that its energy purchases are made keeping in mind the national interest and the safety of Indian consumers.

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