Russian dictator vladimir putin is on a visit to India and has already met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The purpose of the visit is to expand trade ties.
It was reported by Reuters.
It is noted that putin arrived in the Indian capital on December 4 in the evening, where he was met by Modi on the runway. The newspaper notes that Modi's personal greeting of putin at the airport is a rare gesture, as foreign leaders arriving on a visit are usually met by senior Indian ministers.
Later, putin and Modi had a private dinner at the official residence of the Indian Prime Minister.
As early as the morning of December 5, Modi and putin arrived for the official ceremony - they shook hands on the red carpet and headed to the podium for the official meeting ceremony
Putin's visit comes amid India's negotiations with the US on a trade deal to lift punitive tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump over India's purchases of russian oil.
Putin is expected to press India to buy more russian oil, missile systems and fighter jets in an effort to rebuild energy and defense ties that have suffered under US pressure.
Meanwhile, moscow has said it wants to import more Indian goods to boost trade to USD 100 billion by 2030, which has so far been beneficial to russia because of New Delhi's energy imports.
Unlike oil, India has no plans to freeze defense ties with moscow anytime soon, Defense Minister Rajesh Kumar Singh said last week. Russian Su-30s make up the majority of India's 29 fighter squadrons. Indian officials said moscow has also offered its most advanced fighter jet, the Su-57. They noted that India has not yet made a decision to purchase the aircraft.
However, as Singh said last week, India is likely to discuss buying additional units of the S-400 air defense system.
India and russia want to boost trade and expand business ties beyond energy and defense, both countries said Thursday, and putin and Modi are expected to announce a series of deals.
The two countries have set a goal of reaching USD 100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 amid US pressure on India to move away from moscow. Their trade has more than quintupled from about USD 13 billion in 2021 to nearly USD 69 billion in 2024-2025.
India is looking for new markets to boost exports of its goods, which are subject to a stiff 50 percent tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that India wants to diversify its trade with russia to include exports of cars, electronics, textiles and food.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Bloomberg earlier cited sources as saying that India will lease a nuclear submarine from the aggressor country russia, for which it will pay about USD 2 billion. Negotiations on this have been going on between New Delhi and moscow for about a decade.
According to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the russian propaganda state television company RT opens its channel in India. It is stated that RT is an exclusively propaganda project that regularly spreads pro-russian narratives and outright fakes.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.