Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia reportedly highlighted the durability of their decades-long partnership Monday, clasping hands and trading laughter during the opening of a summit that underscored India’s willingness to deepen relations with Moscow even as Washington has grown more confrontational.
In remarks that set the tone for their meeting, Mr. Modi described the partnership with Moscow as “special and privileged.” Mr. Putin, addressing his counterpart as a “dear friend,” praised relations as “special, friendly and trusting.”
“Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades. Friendly, trusting. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future,” Mr. Putin said.
The Russian leader, accompanied by top officials, plans to travel to India again in December for the 23rd annual summit between the two countries, his foreign policy adviser said.
Before sitting down for formal talks, Russian media reported that the two men conversed for nearly an hour inside Mr. Putin’s Russian-made limousine. When they joined other leaders for a group photograph, Mr. Modi’s booming laugh and vigorous handshake with Mr. Putin drew smiles from the Russian leader and even a measured grin from China’s Xi Jinping.
Mr. Modi also used the summit to urge constructive steps to halt the fighting in Ukraine. “To end the conflict soonest and establish peace permanently, we need to find out a way. It’s a call of the entire humanity,” he said.
The optics of unity between Moscow, Beijing, and New Delhi came just days after President Donald J. Trump levied a steep 25 percent increase on tariffs for Indian imports, raising total duties to 50 percent.
The move was retaliation for India’s continued purchases of discounted Russian oil—sales Washington has said help fund the war in Ukraine.
India, with a population of 1.4 billion, has defended the imports as vital for its growing energy needs. Mr. Trump, however, took to Truth Social to charge that America’s trade relationship with India “has been a totally one sided disaster!” and to complain about the surge in Indian purchases of Russian crude. “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late,” he wrote. “They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!”
Analysts in New Delhi said Mr. Trump’s policies were accelerating India’s outreach to both Russia and China. Harsh Pant of the Observer Research Foundation argued that India was now “working much more closely with China and Russia to push back against economic unilateralism it is witnessing from the U.S.”
Trade between India and Russia has reached record levels, climbing to $68.7 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year. Imports from Russia accounted for roughly $64 billion, with exports from India totaling $5 billion.
Russia now supplies about 37 percent of India’s oil imports, a dramatic shift for a country that once relied heavily on the Middle East. The two nations aim to raise bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.
Mr. Modi’s repeated visits to Russia—including talks in Moscow and participation in the BRICS summit in Kazan last year—reflect what Indian scholars describe as a pragmatic multi-alignment strategy.
Sreeram Sundar Chaulia of the Jindal School of International Affairs said the meeting with Mr. Putin showed India’s determination to maintain “sufficient strategic autonomy” while preserving old and reliable partnerships.
Even as relations with Washington face turbulence, Indian experts expressed hope the rift is temporary. As Mr. Chaulia put it, India still wants to “return happily to having the Russian cake and eating the American pie.”
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