‘If US has right to buy our fuel, why shouldn't India buy oil’: Putin
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New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin has questioned the president Trump’s punitive tariff on India for buying Russian oil.
Arriving here for two-day state visit, President Putin has squarely taken on the US stand ‘If the US has the right to buy our fuel, why shouldn't India have the same privilege?’
Putin’s visit to India comes at a time when India-US relations worsened following Trump’s punitive tariffs and visa restrictions.
Alongside boosting mutual trade, the visit aims at increasing ‘sales of Russian oil, missile systems and fighter jets and widen business links beyond energy and defence equipment’ Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced President Putin on arrival signaling the how strong the ties between both countries are, despite the US pressure.
Putin's first visit to India in four years is widely seen as a message to the US administration after its punitive tariffs and restrictive US terms on students seeking education in the country.
The ties between India and Russiago back to the days of former Soviet Union with India relying solely on it for arms and technology thus eventually becoming top buyer of Russian oil in recent times.
India went on buying Russia oil defying the West’s sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
However, India’s crude oil imports marked a ‘three-year’ low following the Trump’s more aggressive tariffs on India.
It is against this backdrop that President Putin told India Today that the US still buys nuclear fuel from his country, and asked ‘why shouldn't India have the same privilege?’
‘This question deserves thorough examination, and we stand ready to discuss it, including with President Trump,’ he reportedly said.
When asked if Indian oil purchases has fallen following tariffs, Putin admitted there was a decline in overall trade turnover in the first nine months this year, but ‘Trade in petroleum products and crude oil ... Russian oil, is running smoothly in India.’.