Outlook Business Desk
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) plenary in Tianjin on Monday, September 1, outlining India’s regional cooperation approach before a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This marks PM Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin’s first in-person meeting since the BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024. The Tianjin talks are also their first opportunity to engage after Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The Modi–Putin meeting comes after Modi’s August 31 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Tianjin. Modi also met Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi and later joined Xi’s SCO reception with the Russian delegation, including Sergey Lavrov, Alexey Overchuk, Yury Ushakov, and Dmitry Peskov. Earlier, Modi had phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The bilateral meeting comes after Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 7 imposing a 25% penalty on Indian goods over Russian oil purchases. The tariffs took effect on August 27, doubling duties on many products and raising trade-related tensions for India.
Before the Tianjin talks, PM Modi and Putin spoke twice by phone after the US tariff decision. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Moscow on August 22, while National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held discussions there earlier in August on trade, energy and security.
On August 12, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a policy allowing funds in Special Rupee Vostro Accounts to be invested in Indian government bonds. The move strengthens rupee-based settlements with Russia, as discussions also progress on linking India’s RuPay with Russia’s Mir payment system.
Although US tariffs have raised trade tensions, crude oil remains outside their scope. Indian refiners, including Reliance and Nayara, are securing additional Russian shipments for September, with Urals crude offered at $2–3 per barrel below Brent, boosting purchases by an estimated 10–20%.
India also wants Russia to open its market further for medicines, farm goods and textiles to narrow the trade deficit. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar urged Moscow to ease non-tariff barriers. Russia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner, but the the trade equation remains tilted towards Moscow.
India has received three of the five S-400 air defence systems it has ordered from Russia, with the last two due only in 2026–27. Both sides are expected to discuss narrowing this delivery gap, along with ensuring spare parts and maintenance support for deployed systems.