Putin hails New Delhi as ‘reliable partner'; blasts West over ‘detrimental’ interference in India-Russia ties

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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 4, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (June 4, 2026) hailed Moscow’s strategic partnership with New Delhi and asserted that Western attempts to force India into scaling back its cooperation with Russia are futile and damaging to global stability.

In an interaction with heads of leading global news agencies, including PTI, Mr. Putin lauded India's economic growth and its independent foreign policy and said Russia is determined to expand its economic engagement with the country.

"India is among the world's major economies and is currently demonstrating an impressive rate of economic growth," Mr. Putin remarked, expressing confidence that bilateral trade between the two nations is on track to hit a $100 billion milestone in the coming years.

Mr. Putin said Russia has not seen any negative consequences of Western pressure on India to limit its engagement with Russia, suggesting that such tactics are bound to backfire.

"Everyone has understood that putting pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi [and India] that has the largest population in the world, is detrimental for international relations and for bilateral relations. It doesn't matter where this pressure comes from," Mr. Putin said.

The Russian President's remarks came against the backdrop of increasing disquiet in some of the Western capitals over India-Russia relations. The U.S. has constantly been urging India to cut back its procurement of Russian crude oil.

Russia to fulfil all agreements on energy supply to India: FM Lavrov

"India is one of the leading economies of the world that has showed the highest rate of economic growth. This is not something that comes out of the blue. This is result of the hardwork that the government of India has been doing under the le