Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, on Monday, and told the Russian leader that New Delhi and Moscow should deepen cooperation in “all sectors.”
The comments from Modi are the latest sign that tariffs and other pressure from the US won’t impact India’s import of Russian oil and its trade relationship with Russia in general. In a post on X, Modi shared a photo of himself and Putin in a vehicle en route to their meeting, and said conversations with the Russian leader were always “insightful.”
After the meeting, Modi described the talks as “excellent” and said they discussed “ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all spheres, including trade, fertilizers, space, security, and culture.”
Over in Washington, President Trump, who recently imposed 50% tariffs on India over its purchase of Russian oil and other trade issues, took shots at India in a post on Truth Social.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest ‘client,’ but we sell them very little – Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades,” the president said.
“The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US,” the president added.
In Tianjin, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered remarks in which he criticized “bullying” practices, an apparent reference to US sanctions and other economic pressures. Xi, Modi, and Putin briefly huddled together at the summit, and the 10 SCO member states called out the US by name in a joint declaration that condemned the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, which is an SCO member.
The statement said that the SCO states “strongly condemn the June 2025 Israeli and US military aggression on Iran targeting civilian nuclear infrastructure, causing casualties (and) violation of international law and UN Charter principles.” They also strongly condemned “acts causing civilian casualties and humanitarian disasters in Gaza.”
