Russian President Vladimir Putin Likely To Visit India At The End Of August

Russia and India are time-tested partners and have been involved in several bilateral projects, including the supply of S-400 and MiG-29.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (File Photo: IANS)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India at the end of August, Interfax news agency quoted India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as saying.

Doval is currently in Russia to discuss India-Russia defence and security cooperation.

Russia and India are time-tested partners and have been involved in several bilateral projects, including the supply of S-400, MiG-29 fighter jets and production of AK-203 rifles in India and BrahMos missiles.

Doval's visit comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, bringing the total tariff to 50 per cent, over India's purchase of Russian oil.

Shortly after imposing a 25 per cent additional tariff on India, US President Donald Trump signaled the possibility of more “secondary sanctions” on New Delhi. 

"It's only been 8 hours. So let's see what happens. You're going to see a lot more... You're going to see so much secondary sanctions," Trump said during a White House press briefing.

India has criticized US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, terming the move unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India will take all necessary steps to protect its national interests.

The MEA stated that it is extremely unfortunate that the United States has chosen to impose additional duties on India for actions that many other countries are also undertaking in their national interest.

"The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia. We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India. It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest," MEA said in the statement. 

India has maintained that it is being unfairly singled out by the United States and the European Union for continuing oil imports from Russia, despite the fact that the EU itself recorded €67.5 billion in goods trade with Russia in 2024 and an estimated €17.2 billion in services trade in 2023, well after the Ukraine conflict began.