Moscow [Russia], August 21 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Russia, during which he co-chaired the 26th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) and addressed the India-Russia Business Forum meeting in Moscow.
He also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, reviewed the bilateral agenda, and shared perspectives on regional and global issues. India and Russia share a longstanding and time-tested friendship.
Addressing queries during a joint press conference with Lavrov, Jaishankar responded to the US decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods for the purchase of Russian oil. He emphasized that China, not India, is the biggest purchaser of Russian oil, while the European Union is the largest buyer of LNG, making the logic of singling out India for secondary tariffs perplexing.
“We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG, that is the European Union. We are not the country that has seen the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South. We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilize the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia. Incidentally, we also buy oil from the US, and that amount has increased. So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you had referred to,” Jaishankar said.
US President Donald Trump had announced 25 percent tariffs on Indian goods in July, even as there were hopes of an interim India-US trade deal that could have helped avoid higher tariffs. Days later, he imposed another 25 percent tariff, taking the total to 50 percent, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
Jaishankar stressed that sustaining energy cooperation with Russia through trade and investments is important. He also underlined the need to address the trade imbalance.
“We reaffirmed our shared ambition to expand bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner, including by increasing India’s exports to Russia. This requires swiftly addressing non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments. Enhancing India’s exports to Russia in sectors like agriculture, pharma, and textiles will certainly help correct the imbalance,” he said.
Jaishankar and Lavrov also discussed developments in Ukraine and West Asia, emphasizing dialogue and diplomacy in resolving conflicts.
“On regional issues, we discussed developments in Ukraine, West Asia, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. India’s approach continues to emphasize dialogue and diplomacy as essential to resolving differences,” he added.
He further said that defense and military cooperation between the two countries remains strong, with Russia supporting India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“Our defense and military technical cooperation also remains robust. Russia supports India’s ‘Make in India’ goals, including joint production and technology transfer,” Jaishankar said. (ANI)
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