‘Putin’s visit has enriched ties between Moscow, New Delhi’
Moscow: Except US President Donald Trump, nobody else has declared that India will stop buying Russian oil, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the country’s parliament on Wednesday.
Lavrov’s comments came two days after Russia accused the US of attempting to prevent India and other countries from buying Russian oil, saying Washington was using a wide range of “coercive” measures, including tariffs, sanctions and direct prohibitions.
On Wednesday, responding to a lawmaker in the State Duma (Lower House), Lavrov said, “You mentioned that Donald Trump announced India’s agreement to no longer purchase Russian oil. I have not heard such a statement from anyone else, including Prime Minister Modi and other Indian leaders.”
Lavrov noted that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, setting the trend for India’s chairmanship of BRICS, told the first meeting of sherpas in New Delhi that energy security will be one of the top items of the BRICS summit, expected to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking during the Government Hour of the State Duma, which hears cabinet ministers who report about the performance of their ministries, Lavrov said, President Putin’s state visit to India in December 2025 had further enriched relations between Moscow and New Delhi.
“In particular, a substantial package of joint documents was signed during President Putin’s state visit to India last December.
This visit enriched Russian-Indian relations, creating a special, privileged strategic partnership,” Lavrov said.
A new meeting between the two countries’ leaders is expected to take place on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, which will be held this year under the Indian chairmanship, Lavrov said. Russia is ready to go as far in relations with India as New Delhi would desire, he said, adding, the sky is the limit.
India formally assumed on January 1, 2026, the chairmanship of BRICS, a 10-member bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, along with five new members.
Earlier, accusing the US of using “unfair methods” to suppress competitors by imposing sanctions on Russian oil companies, Lavrov said in an interview with TV BRICS on Monday, “(The US) is attempting to control our trade, investment cooperation, and military-technical ties with major strategic partners, such as India and other BRICS members”.
While announcing a trade deal with India last week, Trump claimed New Delhi had agreed not to procure crude oil from Russia.
In an executive order, Trump rolled back an additional 25% tariff on India that he imposed in August last for India’s procurement of crude oil from Russia.
On Monday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India will maintain multiple sources for crude oil purchases and diversify them to ensure stability in the supply chain, with national interests remaining the “guiding factor” for the procurement.
Trade deal: US drops reference to ‘certain pulses’
New York/Washington: The White House has removed “pulses” from a list of American products on which it said India will eliminate or reduce tariffs, in a revised fact sheet issued on the interim trade deal.
On Monday, the White House had issued a fact sheet on ‘The United States and India Announce Historic Trade Deal (Interim Agreement),’ days after India and the US announced in a joint statement the framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
An initial version of the fact sheet had highlighted key terms of the agreement including, that India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, “certain pulses”, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
The fact sheet had also said that India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products.
The revised fact sheet removed the reference made regarding pulses and changed the word committed used for India to “intends”.
“India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.”
“India intends to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products,” the revised fact sheet said.
Meanwhile, the office of the US Trade Representative has removed a social media post that featured a map of India showing the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as well as the Aksai Chin region as part of the Indian territory.
Last week, as the US and India announced details of a bilateral interim agreement framework on trade, the US Trade Representative’s office posted information about the trade deal on the social media website X, along with a map of India.
The map had shown the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as territory of India. Similarly, the Aksai Chin region, claimed by China, was also shown as part of the Indian territory. However, the specific post showing the map of India has now been deleted from the USTR’s X handle.
On previous occasions, maps of India had been shown with a demarcated line to portray the PoK and Aksai Chin region. But the map of India issued by the USTR had shown the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including these two areas, as an integral part of India.
New Delhi has consistently underscored that the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. India also asserts that Aksai Chin is an integral part of its territory based on historical claims and past treaties.
