Amid US threats on Russian oil imports, NSA Ajit Doval visits Moscow for strategic talks

New Delhi: Amid fresh warnings from the Trump administration over ties with Russia, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for talks on strategic partnership, defence, and security cooperation, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration issued trade threats to countries maintaining close ties with Russia, including India.

"The current escalation of the geopolitical situation will also be discussed. Apart from that, the topics will include such pressing matters as supplies of Russian oil," the source told TASS.

India on Monday mounted an unusually sharp counterattack on the US and the European Union for their “unjustified and unreasonable” targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil.

Firmly rejecting the criticism, India pointed out the double standards in targeting it on the issue and said both the US and the EU are continuing their trade relations with Russia.

“Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday night.

The Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilisers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, and machinery and transport equipment, the MEA said.

"Where the US is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals," it added.

"In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable," the MEA said.