NEW DELHI (Reuters/AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began summit talks in New Delhi on Friday, as New Delhi rolled out the red carpet for the Russian leader and Modi told him India supported peace efforts in Ukraine.
Putin is on his first visit to India in four years, aiming to boost trade with the top buyer of Russia's arms and seaborne oil as Western sanctions squeeze their decades-old ties.
The visit comes at a time when New Delhi is engaged in talks with the US for a trade deal to cut punitive tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on its goods over India's Russian oil purchases.
Moscow has been India's top arms supplier for decades and has said that it wants to import more Indian goods in an effort to grow trade to $100 billion by 2030 that so far has been skewed in its favour due to New Delhi's energy imports.
Since European countries cut their reliance on Russian energy after Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago, India ramped up its purchases of discounted Russian crude, only to reduce them under pressure from US tariffs and sanctions this year.
EFFORTS TO END UKRAINE CONFLICT
“India is not neutral — India has a position, and that position is for peace," Modi told Putin as they opened their talks. "We support every effort for peace, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with every initiative taken for peace.”
Putin, in response, thanked Modi for his attention and efforts aimed at resolving the conflict.
"We had the opportunity – and you gave me that opportunity – to speak in detail about what is happening on the Ukrainian track and about the steps we are taking jointly with some other partners, including the United States, toward a possible peaceful settlement of this crisis," Putin said.
"As our countries and economies grow, the opportunities for cooperation expand," Putin said. "New areas are emerging - high technologies, joint work in aviation, space, and artificial intelligence. We have a very trusting relationship in the field of military-technical cooperation, and we intend to move forward in all these areas."
21-GUN SALUTE WELCOME
Putin landed in Delhi on Thursday to a warm welcome from Modi, who greeted him with an embrace on the tarmac of the airport. The two men then travelled together in the same vehicle for a private dinner hosted by Modi.
On Friday, Putin was given a ceremonial welcome on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the colonial-era presidential palace, with a 21-gun salute as his convoy drove in.
The two sides are expected to announce a raft of deals at the end of formal talks.
Indian firms are expected to sign an agreement with Uralchem group, Russia's top potash and ammonium nitrate producer, to jointly set up a urea plant in Russia, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Russian lenders Gazprombank and Alfa Bank have also sought approval to begin operating in India to help Moscow boost its trade with India, Reuters reported.
PUTIN CHALLENGES WASHINGTON
Modi and Putin are also expected to discuss topics including labour and civil nuclear energy.
A large business and government delegation has accompanied Putin for the visit, including Defence Minister Andrei Belousov who held talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on Thursday.
Belousov stated that "the Russian defence industry is ready to support India towards becoming self-reliant in the field of defence production," India's defence ministry said after the talks.
In an interview with broadcaster India Today that was aired late on Thursday, Putin challenged US pressure on India not to buy Russian fuel when the US could purchase Russian nuclear fuel.
"If the US has the right to buy our fuel, why shouldn't India have the same privilege? This question deserves thorough examination, and we stand ready to discuss it, including with President Trump," Putin said.
He also said that while there was a minor dip in India-Russia trade during the first nine months of this year, energy trade was "running smoothly".
India has said Trump's tariffs are unjustified and unreasonable and pointed at ongoing US trade with Moscow. The US and European Union continue to import billions of dollars worth of Russian energy and commodities, ranging from liquefied natural gas to enriched uranium.
'INDIA'S CONUNDRUM'
Putin arrived in India a day after holding talks with Trump's top envoys on a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, but they did not reach a compromise.
India has resisted condemning Russia over the war and called for peace through dialogue and diplomacy, while saying that its ties with Moscow were being unfairly targeted by Western nations that it said continued to do business with Moscow when it was in their interest.
"India faces a conundrum; by taking steps to strengthen ties with Moscow or Washington, New Delhi risks setting back ties with the other," Michael Kugelman, senior fellow at Washington's Atlantic Council think tank, wrote in Foreign Policy magazine this week.
Earlier, Modi welcomed Putin at the airport on Thursday with a warm hug on a red carpet, before the two rode together in the same car to a private dinner – mirroring a lift that Putin gave Modi when they last met in China in September.
"India-Russia friendship is a time-tested one that has greatly benefitted our people," Modi wrote in a post on social media, accompanying a photograph of them grinning together inside the vehicle.
It was a symbolic show of friendship, after US President Donald Trump imposed 50-percent tariffs on most Indian products in August, citing Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil – revenue Washington argues helps fund the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with India Today, Putin said he was "very happy" to be meeting "my friend" Modi.
"The range of our cooperation with India is huge," he said in remarks translated by the broadcaster, citing ship and aircraft manufacturing, nuclear energy and space exploration.
"This visit is part of India's diversification strategy, both in terms of strategic and economic, especially at a time when the US tariffs have hurt India," Ashok Malik of business consultancy The Asia Group told AFP.
'BALANCING ACTS'
India is walking a diplomatic tightrope – relying on strategic Russian oil imports while trying not to provoke Trump during ongoing tariff negotiations.
"Balancing acts are second nature to Indian foreign policy making", wrote Pankaj Saran, a former Indian envoy to Russia, writing in the Times of India.
The leaders will also address business and industry leaders before Putin attends a state banquet hosted by the Indian President Droupadi Murmu.
India, the world's most populous nation, has become a major buyer of Russian oil, saving itself billions of dollars and providing Moscow with a much-needed export market after it was cut off from traditional buyers in Europe because of the war.
Putin also told India Today that Modi is "not someone who gives in to pressure", when asked about the impact of US tariffs.
The Russian share of India's arms imports fell from 76 percent in 2009-13 to 36 percent in 2019-23, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Besides discussions around cutting-edge defence hardware, which includes air defence systems, fighter jets, and nuclear submarines, New Delhi will push for easier access to the wider Russian market.
Bilateral trade reached $68.7 billion in 2024-25 – almost six times higher than the pre-pandemic levels – but Indian exports accounted for only $4.88 billion.
The two countries are expected to announce an agreement on easier mobility of Indian workers into Russia.