The warmth in India-Russia ties, despite mounting American pressure on India to discontinue its oil purchase from Russia, was on full display in China, as President Vladimir Putin and PM Narendra Modi walked hand in hand at the SCO summit and later travelled together in Putin’s luxury sedan, Aurus Senat, to the venue for their bilateral meeting. In their talks, Modi strongly backed ties with Russia saying the 2 countries have always stood shoulder-to-shoulder even in difficult circumstances and close cooperation between them is important for global peace, stability and prosperity. Putin said that the bilateral tes, which are friendly and based on trust,will continue to grow. The PM spent more time with Putin in Tianjin than with any other leader. This included thecarpool ride, another 45 minutes in the car even after reaching the meeting venue and an hour-long bilateral meeting. According to official sources, Putin wanted to travel together with Modi from the SCO summit venue to the hotel where the meeting was to take place, and even waited for about 10 minutes for the PM to join him. The leaders, who were also spotted in a huddle with President Xi Jinping at the SCO venue earlier, were said to havediscussed various issues in the car, while the Russian and Indian delegations waited inside the hotel. In the bilateral meeting, Modi did not specifically call for an immediate ceasefire but told Putin in his opening remarks that the “aspiration of entire humanity” was for all parties to work constructively and end the conflict. “We hope that all parties shall proceed ahead constructively. A way must be found to end this conflict and establish lasting peace,” recalling his past conversation with Putin on the issue and welcoming all recent efforts for establishing peace. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had called Modi ahead of the meeting to emphasise the need for an immediate ceasefire without which, he said, it was going to be difficult to have peace talks. He had said later Modi was ready to give “appropriate signal” to Putin. According to an Indian readout, the leaders discussed bilateral cooperation, including in the economic, financial, and energy sectors and expressed satisfaction with the sustained growth in bilateral ties in these areas. On Ukraine, it said, Modi reiterated his support for the recent initiatives that have been taken to address the conflict in Ukraine and emphasized the need to expedite a cessation of the conflict, and to find a durable peace settlement. “The two leaders reaffirmed their support for further strengthening of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries,” said the Indian government, adding that the PM was looking forward to hosting him for the 23rd annual summit later this year. The summit will take place in December. Modi told Putin 140 crore Indians were eagerly waiting to welcome him for the summit. “This is a reflection of the depth and scope of our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. India and Russia have always stood shoulder-to-shoulder even in the most difficult situations,” said Modi. In his own remarks, Putin said that the multifaceted Russia–India ties will continue to actively develop and trade and economic ties are seeing “positive momentum”. “Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades – friendly and based on trust. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future, and these relations are absolutely non-partisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our two countries,” said Putin, adding the 2 countries will closely coordinate efforts on global forums like the UN, BRICS, G20 and SCO. This was the first meeting between Modi and Putin after the Trump administration an additional 25 percent tariff on India for its procurement of crude from Russia. Top US officials have repeatedly targeted India in the past few weeks, accusing the Indian government of bankrolling Russia’s war machine and even calling it Modi’s war. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Monday India was being punished for buying Russian oil.
