Russian President Vladimir Putin
NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said they will import more from India to address the trade imbalance, while expressing confidence that India will continue to import energy from his country without giving in to US coercion as Indian people and PM Narendra Modi will not accept humiliation from anyone.The two countries on Friday marked 25th anniversary of their Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, with Indian govt saying that it is looking forward to strengthening ties in every segment they are working on, including trade, investment, defence, and science and technology.When asked about the US tariffs on Russia’s key partners, Putin said Indian people will not tolerate their country being bullied into making a decision that contradicts their national interests and priorities, RT news channel reported.“India will never allow itself to be humiliated by anyone. I know PM Modi, he will also not make any such decisions,” said Putin, speaking at Valdai plenary session. “The losses faced by India due to punitive US tariffs would be balanced by crude imports from Russia,” Putin added. He said that Russia may buy more agricultural products and medicines from India to remove the trade imbalance.Russian news agency TASS quoted him as saying he had instructed his govt to think of proposals to be made to “Indian friends and counterparts on the most promising areas of cooperation and how Russia can smoothen the imbalance in trade and other areas”. Putin said he was looking forward to his trip to India in early Dec (for India-Russia annual summit) and meeting with “my friend and our reliable partner PM Modi.” Putin described Modi as a “balanced, wise”, and “nationally oriented leader”, saying he feels comfortable in their “trustworthy” interactions.
