Putin to visit India, says he is looking forward to meeting his dear friend Modi

Putin’s trip to India aims to strengthen economic and strategic cooperation amid US President Donald Trump’s proposed 50% import duties on India.

The latest reports indicate that Putin, President of Russia, is set to visit India. He has even confirmed coming to India, and reports say that he would be taking a trip in December this year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirms his India visit.

During a recent media interaction, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed a trip to India in December of this year. He said he is looking forward to the visit and to meeting his ‘dear friend’ PM Modi. Putin stated, “I am looking forward to my trip in early December and I highly await my meeting with my dear friend, our trustworthy partner, PM Modi.” It was earlier reported that Putin would be visiting India by the end of 2025 for an annual summit with PM Modi. It is said that his India trip would aim to shore up strategic and economic cooperation in the face of US President Donald Trump’s 50% import duties on India.

Putin reflects on the ties between India and Russia.

Vladimir Putin reflected on the ties between India and Russia, tracing them back to the Soviet era, and noted that the countries have historically shared a warm relationship. He even reflected Trump’s tariff pressure on India for doing oil trade with Russia. He lauded India for not giving in to the pressure from the US, while expressing confidence that New Delhi would not end its energy reliance on Moscow. He said, “Will India give up our energy resources? If so, it will incur certain losses. Estimates vary; some say it could be around $9-10 billion. But if it doesn’t refuse, sanctions will be imposed, and the loss will be the same. So why refuse if it also carries domestic political costs? [Indian people] will never allow themselves to be humiliated by anyone. I know Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, he will also not make any such decisions.”

Putin stated that he would work towards addressing a trade imbalance with India and plans to increase purchases of agricultural products and medicines from the country. Talking about Trump’s tariffs, Putin said, “The losses faced by India due to punitive US tariffs would be balanced by crude imports from Russia, plus it will gain prestige as a sovereign nation.”