India and Russia resolve to enhance bilateral trade and energy cooperation, Jaishankar and Lavrov’s meeting focused on removing non-tariff barriers and boosting Indian exports.

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India and Russia on Thursday August 21, 2025 resolved to increase their bilateral trade in a balanced manner and maintain energy cooperation and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined the need to rapidly remove non-tariff barriers and regulatory bottlenecks. This resolve by both the countries to increase bilateral trade, including increasing Indian exports to Russia, has been taken amid growing distance in India-US relations over US President Donald Trump’s policies on trade and tariffs.

Jaishankar said in a joint press conference after extensive talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, “We believe that the relationship between India and Russia has been one of the most prominent relations in the world after World War II.” He said, “Geopolitical situation, public sentiments and leadership contact will remain its main drivers.” Jaishankar arrived in Moscow on Tuesday (August 19) to finalize various aspects of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in November or December.

Aim to promote bilateral trade

In talks with Lavrov, Jaishankar said, “The global context for our meeting today is the emerging geopolitical situation, changing economic and trade scenario and our common goal is to maximize our complementarity.” Jaishankar and Lavrov also discussed ways to deal with terrorism. Jaishankar said, “On the issue of terrorism, we resolved to jointly fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism.” He said, “I conveyed India’s determination to adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and our sovereign right to protect our citizens from cross-border terrorism.” Jaishankar’s comments seemed to indicate that the main focus of their conversation was to promote bilateral trade.

Efforts to expand bilateral trade

The Foreign Minister said, “We reaffirmed our shared ambition to expand bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner, including increasing India’s exports to Russia.” He said, “This requires immediate removal of non-tariff barriers and regulatory barriers. Increasing Indian exports to Russia in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles will definitely help to overcome the existing imbalance. Jaishankar said, “Steps were also taken to ensure long-term supply of fertilizers. Indian skilled workers, especially in the IT, construction and engineering sector, can meet Russia’s labor requirements and deepen cooperation.” He said that it is also important to maintain energy cooperation through trade and investment.

Issue of Indians serving in the Russian army

The Foreign Minister also raised the issue of some Indians serving in the Russian army. He said, “Although many people have been released, some cases are still pending and some people are missing. We hope that the Russian side will resolve these cases expeditiously.” In the meeting, Jaishankar and Lavrov reaffirmed India and Russia’s shared commitment to improving global governance. Both sides also discussed the situation in Ukraine, West Asia and Afghanistan. Jaishankar said, “I want to say that India’s approach considers dialogue and diplomacy necessary to resolve differences.”

Mention of preparations for India-Russia summit

In the meeting with Lavrov, the Foreign Minister mentioned the preparations for the annual India-Russia summit to be held at the end of the year. He said, “Today I want these bilateral discussions to be taken forward so that we can get maximum results during the annual summit.” It is believed that India-Russia energy relations were discussed prominently in Jaishankar’s talks with Lavrov.

Tension in India-US relations

Jaishankar’s visit is taking place at a time when tension has arisen in India-US relations after US President Donald Trump doubled the tariff on Indian goods to a total of 50 percent. This tariff also includes an additional 25 percent duty on buying Russian crude oil. The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said on Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow, “The purpose of this visit is to further strengthen the long-term and time-tested India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.” Jaishankar held extensive talks with Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Wednesday. It is understood that the two sides also discussed the Ukraine conflict. India has been consistently calling for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

S Jaishankar meets Putin

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (21 August 2025). They discussed ways to further expand India-Russia relations. The meeting took place hours after Jaishankar held extensive talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, which mainly focused on increasing trade relations between the two countries. Jaishankar on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, focusing on preparations for Putin’s visit to India for a summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year.