Putin assures India of fuel, fertilisers

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday assured India of supplies of energy and fertilisers amid disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict, even as external affairs minister S Jaishankar highlighted the need to address the growing imbalance in two-way trade that has soared to $50 billion.

Putin’s expected meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan this month and on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in New Delhi in September figured in a meeting between the Russian leader and Jaishankar in Moscow. Jaishankar is in Russia to co-chair a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

Putin pointed out that bilateral trade has increased this year, after declining slightly in 2025, and said Russia is increasing fertiliser supplies to India. He noted that any important issues had figured in the IRIGC-TEC meeting and said: “One of these issues is not only energy �" it is, of course, the supply of fertilisers…We are doing everything to resolve this issue for Indian farmers, for agriculture. We are increasing these supplies and are ready to do so further.” �"HT