'Always a delight to meet President Putin': PM Modi at SCO summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit and shared a photo on X

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China on Monday.

 

The photos of the two leaders were shared on PM Modi's official X handle, where they could be seen sharing a hug. "Always a delight to meet President Putin!" the post's caption read.

 

A separate clip from the summit showed PM Modi, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanging warm greetings before posing for a group photograph at the summit venue.

 

US criticises India’s ties with Russia and China

The summit comes amid the Donald Trump-led US administration continues to criticise India on its bilateral ties with Russia.

 

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday (local time), Counselor to the US President Donald Trump, Peter Navarro said, "Modi is a great leader. But I don’t understand why he’s getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when he’s the leader of the biggest democracy in the world."

 

He went on to add, "India is essentially a laundromat for the Kremlin. It kills Ukrainians."

 

The US imposed a 25 per cent penalty tariff on Indian imports citing New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian crude oil, bring the total duty on Indian imports to 50 per cent. Exports sectors including readymade garments, gems and jewellery, diamonds, and seafood sectors have been especially hit by the tariffs.

 

India, which was one of the first nations to reach out to the US admin for tariff negotiations in April, has called the levy unfair and Washington's reasoning hypocritical. 

 

India has pointed out that earlier administrations had asked New Delhi to purchase Russian oil to keep the oil market stable. The external affairs ministry also pointed out that both the US and European Union continue to purchase Russian goods.   

India’s global outreach

As the fresh tariffs took effect, India began an outreach programme to 40 countries, in an effort to strengthen trade relations, as well as find alternative export markets. PM Modi recently concluded a two-day visit to Tokyo ,where Japan set a target of 10 trillion yen ($67 billion) in private-sector investments in India over the next decade.

 

At the SCO summit, PM Modi held talks with Xi Jinping in an effort to rebuild bilateral ties. The Prime Minister also invited Xi to the Brics summit that India will host in 2026. Brics has also been a sore point for Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that the intergovernmental group be disbanded.

 

PM Modi is also expected to speak with Putin to work out the details of the latter's visit to India, planned for December.

  No reports of talks between India and the US have been reported since August 27, when the 50 per cent tariffs took effect.