Time-tested ties of friendship, says Russia as NSA Doval meets President Putin

NEW new delhi: bharat and russian federation on th distressed their commitment to a strategic partnership as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met with President Vladimir Putin and senior Russian officials in Moscow, a day after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on New Delhi due to its purchases of Russian oil.Doval’s visit to Russia, which was previously scheduled, coincided with Trump’s unveiling of the punitive 25% tariff on India, in addition to a 25% levy on Indian goods that took effect on Thursday. Doval’s discussions with the top Russian leadership centred on strengthening strategic and economic cooperation between the two countries.Doval met Putin at the Kremlin after his wide-ranging discussions with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu. Doval and Shoigu emphasised the importance of the “very special relationship” between India and Russia amid uncertainties on the global stage - an obvious reference to the churn created by the policies of the Trump administration.“We highly value our strategic partnership,” Doval said. “I think you [Shoigu] said the world is passing through a very tumultuous situation. There is some unpredictability, there are some uncertainties, and in an environment like this, our old strategic and privileged partnership has got a very special role.”Shoigu noted that Russia and India are linked by “strong, time-tested ties of friendship”, and said a priority for Moscow is strengthening the strategic partnership with India based on “mutual respect, trust, equal consideration of each other’s interests and the desire to promote a unifying agenda”.He said, “We are committed to further active cooperation to form a new, more just and sustainable world order, ensure the rule of international law and jointly combat modern challenges and threats.”Regular dialogue on bilateral and regional issues between the Security Councils of the two sides contributes to taking India-Russia ties to a higher level amid the “current complicated international environment”, Shoigu said.Among the issues discussed between Doval and Shoigu was Putin’s proposed visit to India for the annual India-Russia Summit. Doval noted that dates for the visit “are almost finalised” but didn’t give details. These summits have given new direction to bilateral ties and ongoing discussions are aimed at firming up deliverables for the forthcoming summit, he said.People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the two sides have been in talks on arranging Putin’s visit, though no specific dates or timeframe has been locked down so far.Doval also thanked the Russian government and Putin for its support when India “faced a gruesome terrorist” at Pahalgam. “The Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] has specially asked me to convey his thanks. We are committed, as you are committed, to fight against terrorism with all our might,” he said.Putin was among the first world leaders to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that killed 26 civilians. Russian-origin military hardware, including the S-400 air defence system, Su-30 combat jets and the BrahMos cruise missile, was extensively used by India in hostilities that erupted with Pakistan after New Delhi launched Operation Sindoor to target terror infrastructure on Pakistani soil.A readout from the Russian side said Doval and Shoigu discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and “emphasised the importance of joint efforts in preparation of the bilateral summit by the end of this year”. They also discussed cooperation in multilateral formats and exchanged views on issues of international security, the readout said.External affairs minister S Jaishankar is also expected to visit Russia in the third week of August for a meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), the main mechanism overseeing trade and economic cooperation.Both visits have assumed greater significance in view of the Trump administration’s targeting of India-Russia ties in energy and defence. Before imposing the additional 25% tariff on India on Wednesday, Trump repeatedly criticised India on social media for purchasing Russian energy. He claimed India is buying “massive amounts” of Russian oil and profiting by selling much of the crude on the open market. “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” he said.India responded to the additional tariff by saying it would protect its national interests in the face of the “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” move. The external affairs ministry said it was “extremely unfortunate” that the US had imposed an additional tariff on India “for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest” – a reference to the purchases of Russian energy by China, Turkiye and EU member states that haven’t been similarly targeted by the Trump administration.