As New Delhi and Moscow continue to fortify the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in the face of ongoing global unrest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on the fringes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin.
The two presidents’ discussions are anticipated to focus heavily on important bilateral topics, including as trade, economic, defense, and investment cooperation.
Additionally, PM Modi has repeatedly reaffirmed India’s support for any efforts to resolve the Ukraine issue peacefully and New Delhi’s stance in favor of such a resolution.
Significantly, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called Prime Minister Modi shortly after his arrival in China from Japan on Saturday to apprise him of the European leaders‘ meetings with US President Donald Trump in Washington.
In meetings on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Zelensky claimed that India stated during the “productive, important conversation” that it is prepared to make the required efforts and “convey the appropriate signal to Russia” and other leaders.
According to PM Modi, he discussed the current violence, its humanitarian aspects, and attempts to bring about peace and stability with Zelensky. “India extends full support to all efforts in this direction,” he wrote in a post on X.
Putin called Prime Minister Modi on August 18 to discuss his impressions of his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.
The Russian president contacted Prime Minister Modi earlier this month to discuss the main points of his August 6 meeting in Moscow with US President’s Special Envoy Steven Witkoff.
Later, at the 26th meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.
The pivotal meeting between PM Modi and Putin also occurs as Trump imposes a 50% tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s unwillingness to stop the import of Russian crude oil and what he called unfair trade practices.
But according to analysts, New Delhi has avoided a worldwide crisis by buying Russian energy, which has kept international markets steady and inflation under control for both itself and other parties.
With an output of over 9.5 million barrels per day, or almost 10% of the world’s demand, Russia is the second-largest producer of crude oil in the world. It is also the second-largest exporter, exporting roughly 4.5 million barrels of crude oil per day and 2.3 million barrels of refined products per day.
Experts believe that by keeping oil flowing, world prices steady, and markets balanced, India has provided a financial lifeline to all people on the planet.
In December, Putin is also expected to travel to India.
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PM Modi’s trip in Japan presents an opportunity to strengthen current partnerships