Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to supply India with advanced fighter jets and boost bilateral trade ties amid global upheaval. He also dubbed New Delhi India a “very reliable partner” — highlighting strong cooperation in energy, investments and other strategic sectors. The remarks came even as Donald Trump heralded an imminent trade deal with New Delhi and multiple
“As far as Su-57 goes…we’ve proposed to our Indian friends…to work together on this technology…We are ready to supply India with this aircraft, to keep developing it. We don’t have any issues or limitations. Same goes for air defence systems,” a Sputnik video quotes Putin as saying.
Russian investments in India are concentrated in sectors such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, banking, railways and steel, while Indian investments in Russia are mainly focused on oil and gas and pharmaceuticals.
Bilateral trade to touch $100 billion: Putin
The Russian leader also expressed confidence that bilateral trade between India and Russia will reach USD 100 billion in the coming years. Putin said the two countries have the necessary foundations to significantly expand economic engagement and achieve more ambitious trade goals.
“We hope that in the upcoming years we will reach 100 billion US dollars in mutual trade. It’s about 58 or 60 billion US dollars, but we have all the foundations to work more actively and to reach more ambitious goals…We are not only talking about our plans in energy, including nuclear energy,” he said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Putin also spoke about the ongoing construction of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and said new opportunities would also emerge in the hydrocarbons sector. He highlighted the importance of investments in strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
Russia to bolster air defenses in response to Ukrainian drone attacks
President Vladimir Putin had said earlier on Thursday that Moscow would strengthen its air defenses to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks.
“To our regret, some of them break through. Russia has an air defense system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that,” he told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Putin also said that Russia was open to a compromise in line with understandings reached at his summit with Trump in Alaska. He insisted that Ukraine needed to accept these terms to make a deal to end the conflict now in its fifth year.
