PM Modi, Putin discuss global food and energy markets, ways to encourage trade

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed the state of global energy and food markets and ways to encourage bilateral trade in agricultural goods, fertilisers and pharmaceutical products.

The telephonic conversation between the two leaders comes three days after the Indian Prime Minister attended outreach sessions of the G7 Summit in Germany, where leaders of the seven of the world’s largest economies discussed ways to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions to end the war in Ukraine.

PM Modi and Putin reviewed the implementation of decisions made during the latter’s visit to India last December for the annual bilateral summit.

“In particular, they exchanged ideas on how bilateral trade in agricultural goods, fertilisers and pharmaceutical products could be encouraged further,” an official statement said.

“The leaders also discussed global issues, including the state of the international energy and food markets,” the statement said.

“In the context of the ongoing situation in Ukraine, Prime Minister reiterated India’s long-standing position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy,” it added.

The leaders further agreed to maintain regular consultations on global and bilateral issues.

This was the fourth phone conversation between the two leaders this year.

They spoke on February 24, the day Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine, and Putin had briefed PM Modi at that time about the latest developments. They subsequently spoke on March 2 and March 7, when the Indian side was focussed on evacuated over 20,000 Indians from areas in Ukraine witnessing war.

During these conversations, PM Modi had appealed for an immediate cessation of violence and called on all sides to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue.

He also said the differences between Russia and NATO can only be resolved through “honest and sincere dialogue”.

During the conversation on March 7, PM Modi had suggested a direct conversation between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “may greatly assist the ongoing peace efforts”.

India has refrained from publicly criticising the invasion, which Russia describes as a “special military operation”, in view of the long-standing strategic and defence ties between New Delhi and Moscow. It has, however, called for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and sought an independent investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

In the face of growing pressure from the US and Western countries not to accelerate purchases of discounted Russian oil and commodities, Indian officials have said all decisions on oil purchases will be made with the aim of ensuring the country’s energy security.

According to data from analytics firm Kpler, Indian firms have gone from not importing any Russian crude during January and February to procuring almost 60million barrels so far this year. Russia has historically never been a major energy supplier for India, accounting for less than 2% of annual imports and the overall figure for 2021 was about 12million barrels.

Russia’s shipments to China have also increased since the war in Ukraine, while data from Kpler shows it has now become India’s second largest source of crude after Iraq. Contracts by Indian firms for Urals crude, the type of oil most commonly exported by Russia, for March, April, May and June and projections for deliveries in July and August total about 66.5million barrels.

The US special envoy for energy affairs, Amos Hochstein, recently told a US Senate sub-committee that he had told Indian officials that such purchases can’t be banned but they should not “go too far, and don’t look like you’re taking advantage of the pain that is being felt in European households and in the United States”.