India endorses Trump-Putin summit in Alaska

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday (August 14, 2025) “endorsed” the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which could also decide the course of the tariffs the U.S. has imposed on India. Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said India stood ready to support peace efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, and stated India-U.S. relations will move ahead based on “mutual respect and shared interests”.

“We issued a statement welcoming the understanding between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on August 15. This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects of peace, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions that ‘it is not an era of war’. India therefore endorses the upcoming summit and stands ready to support these efforts,” said Mr. Jaiswal, during the weekly press briefing.

Mr. Trump had on August 5 accused India of fuelling the Russian “war machine” by buying Russian crude. In an interview with CNBC TV, he connected his tariff policy with India’s continued energy purchase from Russia that had increased despite western sanctions on Russia.

“They are buying Russian oil. They are fuelling the war machine and if they are going to do that, I am not going to be happy,” said Mr. Trump in a telephone interview with the TV channel after announcing 25% additional tariffs on India. The tariffs had drawn a strong response from India, with the MEA terming them “extremely unfortunate”.

“We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” said Mr. Jaiswal on August 6, terming the additional tariffs as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

Sources here acknowledged the “shake up” that was caused by the declaration of tariffs targeting India but expressed hope that this phase would pass. “This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges. We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,” said Mr. Jaiswal on Thursday (August 14, 2025).

The burden of tariffs from the U.S. has coincided with positive strides in India-China relations, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arriving in New Delhi next week for consultation ahead of Mr. Modi’s visit to Tianjin to participate in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Officials, however, pointed out that India’s outreach towards China was not linked with any negative trend in its relation with the U.S., with an official saying, “India-U.S. and India-China relations are on two different tracks. We do not mix up the two.”

Mr. Jaiswal also shared that India has been in talks with China “to facilitate the resumption of border trade through all the designated trade points, namely Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand, Shipki La pass in Himachal Pradesh, and Nathu La pass in Sikkim”.