Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin with a handshake and a hug on his arrival Thursday evening in Delhi, kicking off a high-stakes, two-day official visit amid US sanctions and tariffs.

As the leaders departed for dinner in the same car, the bilateral agenda overflowed with critical issues, including correcting the trade imbalance favouring Moscow, shielding bilateral trade from sanctions, firming up the local currency trade mechanism and finalising potential defense and energy agreements.

Bilateral trade

India’s share in Russian imports is low, at less than 2 per cent, and Moscow wants to increase purchases from India “multifold” to address the imbalance in bilateral trade, said Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff, Russia’s Presidential Executive Off

See Full Page