Putin Tells Jaishankar Modi Personally Deserves Credit for Russia-India Trade Growth

Vladimir Putin sat down with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Kremlin on Monday and handed Narendra Modi a compliment most world leaders would kill for. Trade between Russia and India is growing again, Putin said, and it's largely because of Modi personally.

"I'm pleased to note that our trade turnover has increased this year," Putin told Jaishankar, according to the official Kremlin transcript. "While it declined slightly last year, it's growing this year, and this is partly, and perhaps primarily, thanks to Prime Minister Modi, who is devoting his personal attention to developing Russian-Indian relations."

Putin doesn't hand out credit like that to foreign leaders lightly. India stuck with Russia while much of the West tried to isolate Moscow economically after its invasion of Ukraine.

Jaishankar is on a two-day official visit to Russia. Before meeting Putin, he co-chaired the 27th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation alongside Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, according to PressBee. Manturov said bilateral trade turnover grew 8% in the first half of the year.

Jaishankar delivered a personal message from Modi to Putin during the meeting. "He has given me a personal communication which I would like to hand over to you," Jaishankar said, per the Kremlin's own transcript. Jaishankar also relayed that Modi looks forward to seeing Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit and has invited him to the BRICS summit set for September 12-13 in New Delhi.

Oil, Fertilizer, and the Iran Fallout

The trade numbers aren't abstract. India's purchases of Russian oil have surged, according to Business Today, which reported New Delhi imported more than 2.6 million barrels a day in June and July, up from roughly 1 million barrels a day in February. That's a massive shift in India's energy sourcing, and it's happening while Washington keeps pressuring New Delhi over an unfinished trade deal and threatens tariffs tied to countries buying Russian crude.

Fertilizer came up too. Putin told Jaishankar that Russia is "doing everything" to keep fertilizer flowing to Indian farmers and is ready to expand shipments further, according to the Kremlin transcript. PressBee reported that fertilizer shipments to India from the Middle East have been disrupted by the conflict there, tied to U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. That disruption gives Russia an opening to become an even bigger supplier to Indian agriculture, a sector Modi's government treats as politically untouchable given how many Indian voters depend on farming.

Putin also said nuclear energy cooperation and high-tech sector ties are "progressing quite steadily," a line nearly every outlet covering the meeting picked up verbatim, including LiveMint, ANI News, and The Tribune India.

Same Quotes, Same Framing, Different Bylines

ANI News's dispatch and The Tribune India's story are close to identical, both crediting ANI as the wire source. Business Today, LiveMint, and Times of India all ran the same Putin quote about Modi's "personal attention" almost word for word, sourced to the same Kremlin meeting. This is one Kremlin transcript and one ANI wire feed, repackaged across multiple Indian outlets. The Kremlin's own English-language transcript, published by en.kremlin.ru, remains the primary record of what Putin actually said, and it matches the wire coverage closely.

None of the outlets pushed back on Putin's framing or asked whether crediting a single democratically elected leader for macroeconomic trade trends is a bit of a stretch. Trade volumes move on oil prices, sanctions regimes, shipping routes, and currency swings, not just one prime minister's "close personal attention." Putin has an obvious incentive to flatter Modi in public: it costs him nothing and strengthens India's position as a customer Moscow needs badly while Western sanctions bite.

What Happens Next

Modi and Putin are expected to meet at the SCO Heads of State Council summit, with Putin also invited to New Delhi for the BRICS summit in September. Whether India further increases Russian oil imports, and whether Washington responds with new tariff pressure tied to that, remains the open question hanging over this relationship. So far, no U.S. official has announced fresh sanctions or tariff action specifically tied to India's summer oil purchases, according to the sources reviewed here.