Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a summit on the 5th (local time) and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in energy, including oil and nuclear power. It pushes back against pressure from the U.S. administration of Donald Trump to halt India's imports of Russian oil.
According to foreign media that day, Putin, on a state visit to India, and Modi held a summit at the prime minister's state guesthouse in New Delhi and issued a joint statement saying that bilateral ties are "resilient to external pressure," outlining the agreement.
The two leaders said energy cooperation is an important element of the two countries' national security and highly valued their cooperation in the energy institutional sector. They then said they identified cooperation potential in areas such as oil and petroleum products and agreed to address the challenges facing investors in the energy institutional sector.
The two countries also agreed to expand nuclear power cooperation, including building new nuclear power plants designed by Russia, and noted interest in deepening cooperation on exploration, processing, and refining technologies for critical minerals and rare earths.
At a press conference after the talks, Putin said, "Russia is a reliable supplier of oil, gas, coal, and everything needed for the development of India's energy," adding, "We are ready to continue supplying fuel without disruption to India's rapidly growing economy."
Modi also said, "Energy security is a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership," and mentioned nuclear power, but did not specifically mention oil.
The two countries also reaffirmed their commitment to expanding bilateral trade, including increasing exports of Indian goods to Russia. Accordingly, they signed an agreement to export Indian agricultural and marine products to Russia, which had been hit by high U.S. tariff rates.
They also finalized an economic cooperation program that aims to increase bilateral trade, currently $68.7 billion a year (about 101 trillion won), to $100 billion (about 147 trillion won) by 2030.
Putin said Russian corporations are increasingly using Indian rupees generated from exports, and that ruble-rupee settlement already accounts for 96% of the two countries' commercial transactions. In this regard, the two countries agreed to develop a ruble-rupee settlement system to ensure an uninterrupted flow of trade.
They also said they are working to swiftly conclude free trade agreement (FTA) talks between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, and India. The EAEU consists of five countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia.
The two leaders also said that to meet India's aspirations for autonomy, they are restructuring bilateral defense cooperation into joint research and development (R&D) and production of advanced defense platforms, and that they will establish a defense joint venture to meet the Indian military's demand for equipment and export to friendly third countries.
According to Bloomberg News, the two countries also signed, for the first time, a mobility agreement allowing the migration of Indian professionals to Russia, and India will issue free e-visas to Russian tourists.
They then called for comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council and confirmed that if permanent members are expanded, Russia supports India as a new permanent member.