Discussion on free trade between India and Russia, President Putin said, ‘Russia will be a reliable supplier of energy to India…’

‘Both countries are looking towards a “successful partnership in energy”‘

Putin India Visit: Russia has reinvigorated its long-standing energy partnership with India. President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow will remain a stable and uninterrupted supplier to India’s fast-growing economy. At a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said the two countries were moving towards “a successful partnership in energy”. He further said, “Russia is a reliable supplier of oil, gas, coal and every other resource required for India’s energy development. We stand ready to ensure continued fuel shipments to the fast-growing Indian economy.” Putin also said that this cooperation is not limited to traditional fuels only.

He emphasized the large joint nuclear energy initiative already underway and said Russia was undertaking “a major project to build the largest nuclear power plant in India”. He further said the two countries could also consider small modular reactors, floating nuclear power plants and non-energy uses of nuclear technology, such as in medicine or agriculture. Apart from this, connectivity and logistics also remains an important area of ​​this cooperation.

Putin said that Russia and India are working together to develop new trade routes. He explained that their aim is to “create an effective international transportation and logistics route from Russia and Belarus to the Indian Ocean to create an INSTC corridor”. Putin also emphasized growing cooperation in high-tech and industrial sectors, and said the two countries were working together in “industry, machine building, digital technology, space exploration and other areas related to science.”

He further said that Russia will increase its participation in India’s domestic manufacturing infrastructure. Putin said, “Russia will also start production of industrial products under the Make in India program, which is a big project of Prime Minister Modi.” Apart from strategic and economic ties, Putin also stressed the depth of cultural and humanitarian ties between the two countries. He said cooperation is “many in nature” and the people of both countries “have had a keen interest in each other’s traditions, history and spiritual values ​​for centuries.” Furthermore, Putin said that “scientific and educational contacts and transactions between youth and ordinary citizens are also growing rapidly.”

Putin stressed that the thinking of both the countries is similar. “We will discuss urgent global and regional issues and share concerns about the situation in our countries,” he said. He further said that Russia and India pursue “independent and self-reliant foreign policies” and work closely with BRICS, SCO and other “key countries of the world”. Putin said the two countries are together “promoting the building of a more just and democratic multipolar world order” and “protecting the core principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter.”

Russia is one of the world’s largest energy consumers and producers, with vast reserves of oil and natural gas. By the beginning of 2024, the country is set to become the world’s third-largest oil producer, producing approximately 10.8 million barrels of oil per day and having proven oil reserves of approximately 80 billion barrels. Furthermore, Russia has the world’s largest natural gas reserves, estimated at 1,600 trillion cubic metres, and it produced approximately 618 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022.

Russia’s energy sector is primarily dependent on fossil fuels, especially thermal power, which accounts for more than 60 percent of its electricity generation capacity. Until recently, Russia was a major fossil fuel supplier to Europe – more than half of the solid fossil fuels (mainly coal) imported by the EU in 2020 came from Russia, while 43 percent of imported natural gas was from Russia. However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western governments imposed massive sanctions to reduce its energy export revenues. The US Treasury Department and other Western officials directly targeted Russia’s large oil and gas companies, such as Rosneft and Lukoil, with the aim of affecting Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort.

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