NEW DELHI (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he was ready to continue “uninterrupted shipments” of fuel to India, as New Delhi faces heavy United States pressure to stop buying oil from Moscow.
“Russia is a reliable supplier of oil, gas, coal, and everything that is required for the development of India’s energy,” Putin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a visit to New Delhi.
“We are ready to continue uninterrupted shipments of fuel for the fast-growing Indian economy,” he said via an official translator.
US President Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on most Indian products in August, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil — revenue Washington argues helps fund the war in Ukraine.
Modi thanked Putin for his “unwavering commitment towards India” and said that “energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership.”
However, while he referenced nuclear power, Modi made no specific reference to oil.
Modi addressed “my friend” Putin and praised New Delhi and Moscow’s longstanding ties.
“We have agreed on an economic cooperation program until 2030,” Modi told Putin, after officials exchanged a raft of agreements spanning jobs, health, shipping and chemicals.
“This will ensure that our trade and investment are diversified, balanced, and sustainable.”
Putin was given a red carpet welcome with honor guard and 21-gun salute at the presidential palace in New Delhi, before a formal summit meeting with Modi began.
Big ticket defense sales and co-production ventures, energy purchases, and wider economic engagement are on the agenda, Putin’s first visit to India since the Ukraine war.
Putin, sitting beside Modi at the start of talks, said he expected a “fruitful” day tackling a “a great number of documents,” including in areas of defense, technology, aircraft and space exploration.
Modi welcomed Putin at the airport on Thursday with a warm hug, before the two rode together in the same car to a private dinner — mirroring a lift that Putin gave Modi when they last met in China in September.
“India-Russia friendship is a time-tested one that has greatly benefitted our people,” Modi wrote in a post on social media, accompanying a photograph of them grinning together inside the vehicle.
Putin on Friday said he had shared with Modi “a great deal of details about the events taking place in Ukraine” and the efforts Moscow is taking “together with some partners, including the United States, on a possible peaceful settlement,” according to an official translator.
“Thank you for the attention and for your efforts in finding a solution to this situation,” Putin told Modi, who replied that India was “on the side of peace.”