Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had called PM Narendra Modi ahead of the meeting to emphasise the need for an immediate ceasefire without which, he said, it was going to be difficult to have peace talks. He had later said India was ready to give the “appropriate signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to an Indian readout, the leaders discussed bilateral cooperation, including in economic, financial, and energy sectors and expressed satisfaction with the sustained growth in bilateral ties in these areas. In a post on X, PM Modi said that he discussed cooperation in areas like trade, fertilisers and security with Putin.
On Ukraine, it said, Modi reiterated his support for the recent initiatives that have been taken to address the conflict in Ukraine and emphasised the need to expedite a cessation of the conflict, and to find a durable peace settlement.
“The two reaffirmed their support for further strengthening of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries,” said govt, adding that the PM was looking forward to hosting him for the 23rd annual summit later this year. The summit will take place in Dec.
Modi told Putin that 140 crore Indians were eagerly waiting to welcome him for the summit.
“This is a reflection of the depth and scope of our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. India and Russia have always stood shoulder-to-shoulder even in the most difficult situations,” said Modi.
In his own remarks, Putin said the multifaceted Russia-India ties will continue to actively develop and trade and economic ties are seeing “positive momentum”.
“Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades – friendly and based on trust. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future, and these relations are absolutely non-partisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our two countries,” said Putin, adding the two countries will closely coordinate efforts on global forums like UN, Brics, G20 and SCO.
This was the first meeting between Modi and Putin after Trump administration announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for its procurement of crude from Russia. Top US officials have repeatedly targeted India in the past few weeks, accusing Indian govt of bankrolling Russia’s war machine and even calling it “Modi’s war”. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Monday India was being punished for buying Russian oil.
