India-Russia ties among steadiest in world: EAM

Jaishankar meets Putin in Moscow

- ARCHIS MOHAN

India-Russia energy ties featured prominently during the talks between India's External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Thursday. New Delhi conveyed to Moscow that India will keep buying Russian oil if its pricing remained competitive.

At a joint press briefing that he addressed along with Jaishankar, Lavrov said India and Russia are looking at implementing joint ventures (JVs) for the extraction of energy resources, including in the Russian Federation, in the Far East, and on the Arctic shelf.

Jaishankar said: "We believe that India-Russia ties have been among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War... Geopolitical convergence, leadership contacts, and popular sentiment remain its key drivers." The EAM said sustaining energy cooperation through trade and investments is also important.