External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, currently on a three-day visit to Moscow, called on Russian President Vladimir Putin and held wide-ranging talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to review bilateral ties and set the stage for the upcoming annual summit.
This comes shortly after Jaishankar on Thursday criticised the United States’ move to impose steep tariffs on Indian goods over Russian oil imports, pointing out that other countries are far larger buyers of Moscow’s energy. Responding to queries at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Jaishankar stressed that India is being unfairly singled out.
“We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG, that is the European Union. We are not the country which has the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South. We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia. Incidentally, we also buy oil from the US, and that amount has increased. So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you (the media) had referred to…” Jaishankar said, as per news agency ANI.
Bilateral Relations in Focus
During his discussions with Lavrov on Thursday, Jaishankar underlined the importance of continued political and economic engagement between New Delhi and Moscow.
“Today’s meeting gives an occasion to discuss our political relations as well and also our bilateral ties… We now prepare for the annual summit at the end of the year. Our leaders have always given us guidance to take forward our special strategic relationship,” he said.
The minister emphasised that both sides had made headway in multiple areas of cooperation. “We discussed a lot of issues in our bilateral cooperation and found a lot of solutions as well. I want to take bilateral discussions forward so that we have the maximum outcomes when we have the annual summit,” he added.
Placing the meeting in a broader perspective, he noted, “The global context for our meeting is provided by the evolving geopolitical situation, shifting economic trade landscape, and our shared goal is to maximise our complementarity.”
Russia On Role Of BRICS, G20 In Multipolar World
Welcoming Jaishankar for the talks, Lavrov highlighted the changing international system. “…This is a multipolar system of international relations with an increasing role played by SCO, BRICS and G20… I hope for fruitful talks today,” the Russian Foreign Minister remarked.
Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, after meeting Jaishankar, pointed to the deepening economic partnership. He revealed that India-Russia trade turnover had surged 700 per cent in the past five years, placing New Delhi among Moscow’s top three trading partners.
In a post on X, the Russian Embassy in India echoed this, stating: “Russia-India trade turnover SURGED #700% over the past 5 years. India is now in the TOP 3 of Russian trading partners, says Russian Deputy PM Denis Manturov.”
Trade Imbalance a Concern: Jaishankar
The External Affairs Minister also co-chaired the 26th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). He described the platform as a “key mechanism” in preparing for the annual summit later this year.
Jaishankar flagged concerns over the widening trade gap despite significant growth in bilateral trade. “Over the last four years, our bilateral trade in goods has increased, as you have noted, more than five-fold from USD 13 billion in 2021 to USD 68 billion in 2024-25, and it continues to grow. However, a major trade imbalance has accompanied the growth; it has increased from USD 6.6 billion to USD 58.9 billion, which is about nine times. So we need to adess that urgently,” he cautioned.
On X, Jaishankar described the commission meeting as “extremely productive,” noting discussions across trade, agriculture, energy, industries, mobility, education and culture. “As we meet in the backop of a complex geopolitical situation, we made the following suggestions to make the IRIGC-TEC an even more efficient catalyst for deepening our economic cooperation,” he wrote.
As part of his official engagements, the minister laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honour those who died during the Great Patriotic War — the Eastern Front of World War II that began in June 1941 with Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union and ended with Germany’s surrender in May 1945.
