Russia's Putin to visit India in December

Public Lokpal
August 30, 2025

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Russia's Putin to visit India in December

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India in December for an official summit, at a time when ties between the two countries are deepening despite growing Western pressure.

The announcement was made on Friday by Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

Putin will also meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a regional summit in China on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Tianjin city, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, saying the pair would discuss "preparation for the December visit".

"Right after the SCO Plus meeting (on September 1), our president will meet Indian Prime Minister Modi," Ushakov told journalists.

"What is especially important is that preparations will be discussed for the upcoming visit of our president to India in December,” he added.

“In Tianjin, the two leaders will have their first meeting this year, although they have been regularly in touch on the phone,” he said.

“Our countries are bound by a special strategic partnership,” he added.

A relevant statement in this regard was passed in December 2010, which means that this year marks the 15th anniversary since then.

Modi had travelled to Russia twice last year for an annual summit with Putin and to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan. The Russian president is visiting India for the annual summit.

Ahead of his current trip to Japan, Modi said he was looking forward to meeting Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and other world leaders during the SCO gathering.

Putin’s visit to India was announced in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods as punishment for New Delhi's massive purchases of Russian oil, part of a campaign to pressure Moscow into ending its offensive in Ukraine.

Energy incomes are a key source of revenue for Moscow's state budget. Ukraine's Western allies have sought to cut Russia's export earnings since Moscow launched its military assault in February 2022.

But Russia has been able to redirect energy sales away from Europe to countries including India and China, ensuring the multi-billion-dollar flow of funds has continued.

India has argued it imported oil "from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict".

Russia is also one of India's top arms suppliers, and the warm ties between the two countries date back to the Soviet era.

Putin has significantly curtailed his foreign travel amid the offensive on Ukraine, for which he was slapped with an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. India is not a party to the ICC and therefore not obligated to detain Putin.

(Agencies)