Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Russia on a two-day visit for the 22nd annual India-Russia Summit, where he held a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and reviewed all aspects of bilateral relations to strengthen cooperation between the two countries such as trade , energy and defense.
This will be Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to Russia in about five years. He last visited Russia in 2019 and attended an economic conference in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.
Among other events, Russian President Vladimir Putin will host a dinner for Prime Minister Modi, who will address the Indian community during his two-day visit.
The meeting between Modi and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is being closely watched by the global media, including in China, as it is a high-profile meeting that will have far-reaching geopolitical implications for the region.
Prime Minister Modi is walking a fine line between maintaining long-standing ties with Russia and building closer security ties with the West. This is Prime Minister Modi’s first visit after returning to power for a third term.
“I look forward to exploring all aspects of bilateral cooperation with my friend Vladimir Putin and exchanging our views on a wide range of regional and global issues,” Prime Minister Modi said in a statement before his departure from India. “Our goal is to play a supporting role for a peaceful and stable region.”
Russia is a major supplier of oil and arms at a discount to India. In recent years, Western countries have also pressured India to distance itself from Russia while building ties with India as a bulwark against China and its growing influence in Asia and the Pacific.
Prime Minister Modi last visited Russia in 2019, two years later, when he welcomed President Putin in Delhi, weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Officials said the visit would focus on economic issues such as energy, trade, manufacturing and chemical fertilizers and would not be aimed at a battlefield solution.
India and Russia have enjoyed close relations since the Cold War, and Russia has long been India’s largest arms supplier. But Ukraine is increasing the supply of Russian weapons to the limit. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia’s share of India’s arms imports has declined significantly in recent years.
At the same time, India became a major buyer of Russian oil, giving Moscow a much-needed export market and breaking away from its traditional buyers in Europe. This dramatically changed energy relations, saving India billions of dollars while increasing Russia’s war spending.
India’s monthly Russian crude oil imports rose 8 percent in May, the highest since July 2023, according to commodity tracking data compiled by the Center for Clean Air and Energy Research.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
