Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Thursday met Russian President Vladimir Putin. Jaishankar arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to finalise details for Putin’s upcoming visit to India, expected later this year in November or December.
Earlier, India and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral trade, pledging to expand it in a “balanced and sustainable manner”. Jaishankar, speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, stressed the urgency of removing non-tariff barriers and regulatory hurdles to facilitate smoother commerce.
The push to deepen economic ties comes at a time when India’s trade relationship with the United States has been tested by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Against this backdrop, both New Delhi and Moscow signaled their intent to diversify and stabilise trade flows, with particular focus on boosting Indian exports to Russia.
“Relations between India and Russia have been among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War,” Jaishankar said at a joint media briefing following wide-ranging discussions. He noted that geopolitical convergence, close leadership-level engagement, and strong public goodwill have kept the partnership resilient through changing global dynamics.