PM Modi | Sergey Lavrov
PM Modi meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov amid pressure to take anti-Moscow stand
New Delhi/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening met visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov amid international pressure on India to take a stand against Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
PM Modi and the Russian Foreign Minister met for 40 minutes.
The meeting is seen to be a significant one as the Indian Prime Minister has not publicly met any other visiting Ministers in the past two weeks, including those from UK, China, Austria, Greece and Mexico.
Earlier in the day, Lavrov said he wished to convey a "message personally" from President Vladimir Putin to PM Modi.
"The President (Putin) and the Prime Minister are in regular touch with each other and I will report to the President about my negotiations. He sends by the way his best regards to Prime Minister Modi and I would appreciate an opportunity to deliver this message personally," he had said in his opening remarks at a discussion with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
The meeting took place even as the United States has warned that there will be consequences for the countries trying to "backfill or circumvent" the sanctions imposed on Russia to isolate it for invading Ukraine while maintaining that it wouldn't like to see a "rapid" acceleration in India's import of Russian oil and other goods from Russia, media reports said.
Earlier in the day, Lavrov said Russia is ready to discuss the supply of oil and high technology to India and the two sides are in talks on moving towards a rupee-ruble system of payment.
In remarks to the media after holding bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here, Lavrov also said that Indian foreign policy is “characterised by independence and the concentration of real, national legitimate interests”.
Reports suggest India could buy greater volumes of discounted Russian oil and both sides are keen on having a rouble-rupee arrangement for bilateral trade.
In a tough response to Western pressure to ditch low-cost Russian crude, India has pointed out that Europe has been a major importer of Russian oil and gas even after the crisis in Ukraine unfolded and it is natural for countries to look for favourable deals amid skyrocketing oil prices.
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