Windobi | Russian Putin meets Indian Prime Minister Modi to strengthen trade ties

Sep 13,2022

The Russian president and the Indian prime minister will hold talks in Uzbekistan on Friday about the trade and sale of fertilizers, the Kremlin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Friday in Uzbekistan, the Kremlin has said, as the two countries aim to strengthen energy and trade ties.

“There are plans to discuss issues of ‘saturation’ of the Indian market with Russian fertilizer and bilateral food supplies,” it said on Tuesday, citing the topics of the meeting to be held on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit ( SCO), a regional security bloc.

“First of all, we look at measures aimed at stimulating bilateral trade flows. Trade revenue reached $11.5 billion in the first half of 2022, an increase of nearly 120 percent year-on-year,” the Kremlin said.

According to the Indian Ministry of Commerce website, fertilizer imports from Russia rose to $1.03 billion in April-July, compared to $773.54 million in the entire last fiscal year to March 31, 2022.

India is seeking a three-year fertilizer import agreement with Russia.

Attempts to sign a long-term fertilizer import agreement earlier this year were hit by the challenging geopolitical situation after Russia launched what it called its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24.

Prime Minister Modi has pushed for greater energy cooperation with Russia, despite Western pressure to cut ties with Moscow following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“India wants to strengthen its partnership with Russia on Arctic issues. There is also huge potential for energy cooperation,” Modi said at a virtual meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week.

Putin will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit in Samarkand, the ancient Silk Road city in Uzbekistan.
India and China are major buyers of Russian energy, protecting Moscow from the effects of Western sanctions and allowing the two Asian economies to obtain raw materials at discounts compared to supplies from other countries.

The two Asian countries have not publicly criticized Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, despite outrage in the West.

India, which used to rarely buy Russian oil, has become Moscow’s largest oil buyer after China.

Refineries in India, the world’s third largest oil importer and consumer, have bought Russian oil at a discount, which is shunned by some Western countries and companies.

The Group of Seven Countries is working to limit the price of Russian oil from December 5 in an effort to lower the price Russia receives for oil without cutting oil exports to world markets.

So far, India and China have not said whether they will join the price cap mechanism.

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said last week that India will investigate the matter once more details are available. He also said there were many talks and proposals and “we’ll see who participates” in the price cap mechanism.