MOSCOW— Ajit Doval, India’s National Security Adviser, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday. This showed that India had a “very special” connection with Russia. This high-profile visit comes only one day after US President Donald Trump said that India would have to pay a lot more for commodities because it keeps buying Russian crude oil.
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that added a 25% duty to Indian goods. This brought the overall tariff burden to 50%. India has strongly defended its energy trade with Russia, saying that its oil imports are “driven by national interest and market dynamics.”
In a video from the Russian state media outlet Sputnik News, NSA Doval talked about the long-standing strategic relations between the two countries. “We have a very special relationship that has lasted a long time, and we value our strategic partnership very highly,” he said. He also claimed that “high-level engagements” have played a big role in the relationship.
The forthcoming visit of Russian President Putin to India was a big topic of conversation. Doval was excited about the trip and said that the dates are “almost set now.” He stressed that talks between the two countries at the summit level have always been “watershed points” in their relationship. News agency ANI said that while the preparations are in the works, no exact dates were set during Doval’s meetings in Moscow.
The meetings also talked about how to improve collaboration in military and security. India and Russia have a long history of working together, such as when they agreed to buy five squadrons of the S-400 Triumf air defense missile system in 2018. Three of them have already been delivered.
Doval talked to Sergey Shoigu, the head of Russia’s Security Council, in addition to meeting with President Putin. The talks were mostly on how to make the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between Russia and India stronger. Both officials stressed how important it is to work together to get ready for the bilateral summit later this year. They also talked about world security and how to work together in multilateral forums.