Modi hails ‘friend’ Putin and boosts China ties in tilt from US

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Modi hails ‘friend’ Putin and boosts China ties in tilt from US

3:30 CAT | 19 Aug 2025

FILE - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to visit China and hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in August. [File photo: Reuters]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a “friend” while his government moved to bolster relations with China, another sign the South Asian nation is tilting away from the US in the face of Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

Modi held a phone call with Putin following the Russian president’s summit with Trump in Alaska. During the conversation, the two discussed issues of bilateral cooperation and agreed to remain in close touch, according to an official statement from New Delhi.

“India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict and supports all efforts in this regard,” Modi said in a post on X on Monday, adding that he looks forward to “continued exchanges” with Putin in the coming days.

The comments come just ahead of a meeting set for Tuesday between Modi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is visiting India for the first time in three years. Both countries want better relations, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Monday after meeting Wang.

“Having seen a difficult period in our relationship” both nations “now seek to move ahead,” Jaishankar said in New Delhi. “Differences must not become disputes, nor competition conflict.”

Wang said that because “unilateral bullying is prevalent,” the two sides should “contribute to promoting the multi-polarization of the world,” according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. He added that China and India should “regard each other as partners and opportunities, not as opponents or threats.”

China has assured India of supplies of fertilizer, rare earth minerals and tunnel-boring machines, an official in New Delhi told reporters, asking not to be identified because discussions are private. China’s statement on Monday didn’t mention these assurances.

India’s outreach to Russia and China underscores its weakening relationship with the US under Trump. New Delhi initially welcomed the new administration, hopeful of striking a quick trade deal and building on years of closer ties with the US, its largest trading partner.

However, the two sides have been at odds recently in the wake of their failure to strike an agreement, and ties further soured after Trump imposed 50% tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil, a level that would decimate many Indian exporters.

In a Financial Times column Monday, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro called India’s purchases of Russian oil “opportunistic and deeply corrosive” to efforts to halt Moscow’s war machine. Russia and India are longtime partners dating back to the Cold War, and India has broadly stayed neutral over Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, relations between India and China have undergone a thaw. Ties hit a low point after a bloody border skirmish five years ago. But recent months have seen signs of fence-mending: Beijing has loosened curbs on urea exports, New Delhi has reinstated tourist visas for Chinese nationals, while a growing number of Indian businesses have been seeking partnerships with Chinese companies for deals including technology transfers, Bloomberg News has reported.

Trump’s tariffs on both countries’ exports, as well as threats to penalize India for buying Russian oil, are adding urgency to normalize ties.

When asked if Beijing expects Putin to call President Xi Jinping as he did Modi and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio da Silva, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “the heads of state of China and Russia have maintained smooth communications channels.” Mao added that she had “no information to offer” on any immediate plan for Xi to speak with Putin.

Modi is meanwhile poised to visit China and hold meetings with Xi later this month on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. If confirmed, it would be Modi’s first visit to China in seven years.

Jaishankar said that “overall, it is our expectation that our discussions would contribute to building a stable, cooperative and forward-looking relationship between India and China.”

Source: Bloomberg