Jaishankar embarks on 3-day visit to Russia amid strained US ties over tariffs

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday embarked on a three-day visit to Moscow to further strengthen the “time-tested” India-Russia partnership.

The visit comes against the backdrop of strains in India’s ties with the US following President Donald Trump doubling tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent that included an additional penalty of 25 per cent for purchasing Russian crude oil.

It marked the second high-level engagement between the two countries in recent weeks, following National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s visit two weeks ago.

The visits by Doval and Jaishankar are seen as preparations for the upcoming annual India-Russia summit, during which Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two sides are expected to further advance their long-standing strategic partnership.

Jaishankar will co-chair the 26th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) on August 20. He will also address the India-Russia Business Forum and meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to review the bilateral agenda and exchange views on regional and global developments.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said: “The visit aims to further strengthen the longstanding and time-tested India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.”

Jaishankar is visiting Moscow at the invitation of Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, and is also likely to call on President Putin during his stay.

India’s continued procurement of Russian crude oil—a key issue in its strained ties with the US—is expected to figure prominently in the talks. New Delhi is reportedly looking to negotiate even lower prices for Russian oil. The G7-imposed price cap of USD 60 per barrel, implemented in December 2022, has drawn criticism for being largely ineffective.

Last month, the European Union moved to further reduce the oil price cap. India is the second-largest buyer of Russian oil, which constitutes nearly 42% of its total oil imports.

Despite mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump, the Modi government has shown no indication of scaling back its oil imports from Russia. In response to Washington’s recent decision to impose additional tariffs, the MEA last week described the move as "unjustified and unreasonable."

Meanwhile, India and Russia continue to deepen strategic cooperation. Two weeks ago, both sides held talks on military cooperation, as well as manufacturing of civilian aircraft and metallurgy — the science of merging different metals — needed to make guns, aircraft parts and engines.