MOSCOW: India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday in a high-stakes diplomatic move. They talked about how important trade between the two long-time friends is. India is dealing with rising tensions with the United States, which has put high tariffs on Indian exports to try to get New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil.
Jaishankar talked with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, earlier in the day. During a joint press conference, the Indian Foreign Minister sharply criticized the U.S. tariffs after a reporter asked about them. He openly questioned the “logic” of the U.S. position.
The Modi government has been clear about wanting to keep its strategic partnership with Russia, even if President Donald Trump’s administration has put in place new trade policies that are more focused on the U.S. The U.S. has already put a 25% tax on Indian exports, and later this month there will be another 25% “penalty.”
The U.S. Treasury Secretary recently defended the tariffs on India by saying that, unlike China, India had greatly boosted its imports of Russian oil after the war started and was “profiteering by reselling” the refined oil.
Jaishankar specifically responded to this claim at the briefing, saying, “The Americans have told us for the past few years that we should do everything we can to stabilize the world energy market, even buying oil from Russia.” We also buy oil from the U.S., by the way, and that amount has gone up. So, to be honest, we don’t understand the logic of the argument at all.
This most recent diplomatic interaction shows how India is trying to keep the peace between two sides. Recent signals of a “thaw” with China, which is also facing U.S. tariffs but hasn’t yet been punished for buying Russian oil, suggest that India may be moving away from the U.S. because of these extraordinary trade measures.
Another sign of this change is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called President Putin a “friend” over the phone following his meeting with U.S. President Trump. During the call, the two leaders talked about how to end the situation in Ukraine peacefully. They promised to continue in close touch, which will strengthen the connections between their countries.