Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday supported India’s economic independence, saying that it always behaves as if it were a “sovereign country.” He said any attempts to threaten India with sanctions would “backfire” under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India has always acted as a sovereign nation, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, any potential threats of sanctions will be immediately bounced back. We have been in close talks with Prime Minister Modi for a long time,” Putin said while speaking at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
He also said that India is “always guided by its national interests” and that the country is free to choose what suits its interests best. “India is free to choose products that it considers to be the most modern, most convenient to it and obviously offer the best quality-price ratio,” he said.
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According to him, the relationship between India and the United States is “developing successfully” and all sanctions imposed on India have been “cancelled”. Earlier, the United States imposed a punitive tariff on India for purchasing oil from Russia amid its war with Ukraine.
“India-Russia relations are not subject to the political environment.”
Praising the defense and technology ties between India and Russia, Putin said that experts from the two countries are working on the medium-range BrahMos missile.
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“We have a very good and long-standing relationship in terms of interaction in military and technical cooperation. A large part of the Indian Armed Forces is equipped with Russian equipment. This is a tradition dating back to the Soviet era. Our relations with Indian friends are specific, thanks to our mutual trust. We focus not only on trade, purchase and sale, but also on joint research and development. Indian and Russian experts are working on the design of the BrahMos medium-range missile,” Putin said.
He also added that Russia’s relations with India are not “subject to the political environment” and that no one can dictate to Russia not to deliver to India.
“No one can dictate to us and no one will try to do so… We will always adhere to the commitments we have made to our partners, especially partners like India…,” he said.
(With inputs from Annie)
