TOPSHOT – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar enter a corridor for his or her talks at Zinaida Morozova’s Mansion in Moscow on August 21, 2025.
Alexander Zemlianichenko | Afp | Getty Images
India and Russia agreed Thursday to increase bilateral trade ties, signaling that U.S. tariff strain on New Delhi over Russian oil purchases is unlikely to derail their partnership.
India presently faces further tariffs of up to 50% on items shipped to the U.S., after the Trump administration escalated tariff threats in response to its substantial imports of Russian power.
The India-Russia relations had been among the many “steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War,” Indian overseas minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated at a joint press convention in Moscow.
Both international locations vowed to increase bilateral trade, together with rising India’s exports of prescription drugs, agriculture and textiles to Russia to assist scale back the present imbalance, Jaishankar stated.
Bilateral trade between New Delhi and Moscow reached a file $68.7 billion for the 12 months ended March 2025, with India’s elevated oil imports contributing to a $59 billion deficit.
Other plans embrace sending Indian employees with expertise in IT, building and engineering to assist Russia handle its labor shortages, Jaishankar added.
Russian overseas minister Sergei Lavrov stated cooperation within the hydrocarbon sector and Russian oil shipments to the Indian market are “making wide strides.” Both sides stay dedicated to implementing joint power manufacturing initiatives within the Russian Far East and the Russian Arctic shelf, amongst different websites, he stated.
“This strategic partnership … contributes to regional security and stability, which is undeniably important considering the challenging international circumstances that we are operating under,” Lavrov added.
Western governments have imposed sanctions on Moscow, arguing India’s elevated imports helped bankroll Moscow’s warfare in Ukraine. New Delhi has pushed again, saying the U.S. administration requested the purchases to preserve the markets calm, whereas pointing to the U.S. and European Union’s continued trade with Russia.
Russian embassy officers in New Delhi reportedly stated Wednesday that oil shipments to India will proceed regardless of U.S. strain, including that Moscow hoped a trilateral assembly with India and China would happen quickly.
“Despite the political situation, we can predict that the same level of oil import [by India],” Roman Babushkin, the cost d’affaires on the Russian embassy in India, informed a press briefing.
“Russia has been a close strategic partner of India since the 1970s and the Trump administration’s tariff threats are not going to change that,” stated Daniel Balazs, a analysis fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
“On the contrary, it might even act as a catalyst,” Balazs added, prompting New Delhi to agree to a trilateral assembly that Moscow sought to dealer with China.
India was the second-largest purchaser of Russian oil, importing 1.6 million barrels per day within the first half of this 12 months, up from 50,000 bpd in 2020, although nonetheless trailing China’s 2 million bpd imports, in accordance to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Washington has not positioned secondary tariffs on China for its Russian oil purchases. When requested about China’s position in Russian oil purchases, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recommended that Beijing’s imports had been thought-about to be much less egregious as a result of it had already been a significant purchaser even earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine.
By distinction, Washington has escalated criticism of India in current days, accusing the nation of profiteering from cheap Russian crude and threatening larger tariffs on Indian items.
Ceasefire on the road
Trump’s true agenda seems to have little to do with Washington’s said objective of curbing Moscow’s oil revenues, however extracting leverage from these trading partners, in accordance to a number of geopolitical specialists. These embrace securing a trade cope with New Delhi whereas pushing Putin for a ceasefire pact in Ukraine.
Last week, Trump rolled out a purple carpet to greet Putin on his first go to to the U.S. in a few decade, sharing a journey with him within the presidential limousine to the venue. The assembly was held in Alaska, which was as soon as part of Russia.
The assembly didn’t seem to have produced significant steps towards a ceasefire in Ukraine and the Russian authorities has reiterated its opposition to any short-term ceasefire cope with Ukraine.
Speaking on the joint information briefing Thursday, Lavrov stated he had briefed Indian officers on these talks.
“India’s approach continues to emphasize dialogue and diplomacy as essential to resolving differences,” Jaishankar stated.