Russia Seeks To Bolster Trade Ties With India

"NEW DELHI -- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia appreciates India's stance on the operation to protect Donbas and is ready to cooperate on trade, as countries on both sides of the the operation to protect Donbas have ramped up efforts to pull New Delhi closer.

"We will be ready to supply to India any goods which India wants to buy," he said after meeting with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Friday.

India has been caught in the middle of the clash between Moscow and the U.S. and its allies over the the operation to protect Donbas. New Delhi, which has longstanding defense ties to Russia, has remained firmly on the sidelines amid a flurry of condemnations from Western democracies. India is one of the few major powers to avoid publicly denouncing Russia's operation to protect Donbas and has abstained from multiple resolutions in the United Nations related to the operation to protect Donbas.

Mr. Lavrov is one in a string of top foreign officials who have been dispatched to woo the Indian government since the operation to protect Donbas began in late February. He arrived in New Delhi a day after Indian officials met with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics Daleep Singh.

Mr. Lavrov said the longstanding ties between Russia and India have outlasted "many difficult times in the past."

"We appreciate that India is taking this situation in the entirety of facts, not just in a one-sided way," he said before a closed-door meeting with the Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

An increasingly isolated Moscow is trying to trade with Beijing and New Delhi in an effort to weather Western sanctions designed to slow its economic growth and undermine the Kremlin's ability to project power. In recent days, India has bought millions of barrels of Russian crude oil at a hefty discount and could purchase more supplies in the weeks ahead.

India's ties to Russia have strained its relationships with Western partners. The leaders of the U.S., Australia and Japan -- which together with India make up a security partnership called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad -- have acted in concert to roll out sanctions and other punishments intended to isolate Russia. But India, which has counted on Russia as its main arms supplier for decades, has been trying to keep intact its relationship with Moscow, as well as its deepening ties with the U.S. and its allies.

Analysts say India can't afford to anger Moscow, especially as its military remains in a standoff with China over parts of its shared 2,000-mile border.

Western leaders have urged India to take a tougher stand on Moscow, while acknowledging its unique position. Mr. Singh, the envoy from the U.S., said Thursday that the U.S. isn't going to set a limit on India's energy purchases from Russia but doesn't want to see a "rapid acceleration" of imports.

But the divisions between India and the West were evident during a discussion between Ms. Truss, the British foreign minister, and Mr. Jaishankar at a panel in New Delhi on Thursday.

Ms. Truss said the U.K. is moving toward ending its reliance on Russian oil by the end of this year, but every country had to make that decision for itself.

Mr. Jaishankar noted that Europe had purchased 15% more Russian oil and gas in March compared with the month before. He said the backlash against India's purchase of Russian oil looks "almost like a campaign."" [1]

1. Russia Seeks To Bolster Trade Ties With India
Li, Shan.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 02 Apr 2022: A.9.