Putin: India-Russia partnership targets no third country, focused on national interests

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that India-Russia collaboration targets no third country and focuses solely on protecting the national interests of both nations amid Washington's confrontational stance toward New Delhi and Moscow.

Putin highlighted that certain "actors" resent India's expanding role in global energy markets due to its ties with Russia and seek to limit its influence through "artificial obstacles" for political gain. He noted that Western sanctions against Moscow have left energy cooperation with India largely unaffected.

Putin arrived in New Delhi on Thursday evening for a two-day summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid strained India-US relations marked by a 50% tariff on Indian goods, including 25% levies linked to New Delhi's Russian crude purchases.

Neither he nor Modi has allowed external pressures to turn their partnership against others, Putin told India Today. He questioned US objections to India's Russian oil buys, pointing out that America itself imports Russian nuclear fuel.

"As for India's purchase of energy resources from Russia, I would like to note and have already mentioned this once, the US itself still buys nuclear fuel from us for its own nuclear power plants," Putin said.

Despite a slight trade dip in petroleum products over the first nine months, overall turnover remains stable, with smooth operations in refining Russian oil for Indian consumers.

"Well, there is a certain decline in overall trade turnover during the first nine months of this year. This is just a minor adjustment. Overall, our trade turnover stands almost at the same level as before," he said.

Putin praised Modi's resolute leadership, noting India cannot be pressured as in decades past. On Ukraine, he expressed confidence that President Trump sincerely seeks peace to halt deaths, possibly driven by political or economic motives.

Over 90% of bilateral trade now uses national currencies, minimising intermediary issues. Putin lauded Modi’s ambitious goals for India and emphasised the unique defence partnership, where Russia shares technology rather than just sells it, covering naval, missile, and aircraft sectors.

"Our collaborative endeavours with Prime Minister Modi carry significant weight because they transcend our mutual ties," he said.

The Russian president, however, did not give a direct reply to a question on whether India was looking at procuring additional batches of S-400 missile systems. He added that Russia is not simply selling defence technology to Indi,a but it is sharing it with the country.

With inputs from PTI