NEW DELHI, August 18. /TASS/. Russian energy supplies to India following the announcement of additional duties for New Delhi by the US will be discussed at a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation that will be held later this month in Moscow, a source in the Indian government told TASS.
The agenda of the meeting includes issues of cooperation in the areas of trade, defense, technology, and energy, he said. "We are the largest buyer of Russian oil, there is a large volume of Russian investment in India, Rosneft is very active in India, so the dialogue should continue to ensure uninterrupted oil supplies in view of our energy needs," the source said.
Russian-Indian energy cooperation is linked to India's development, to its economic growth, he noted. "All of this is interconnected, so we must continue discussions," the source said, adding that high-ranking representatives of the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will travel to Moscow as part of the country’s delegation to attend the meeting of bilateral intergovernmental commission.
Earlier reports said that Foreign Minister of the South Asian republic Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would visit Russia later this month to participate in the 26th meeting of the intergovernmental Russian-Indian commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted, in turn, that Minister Sergey Lavrov had scheduled talks with his Indian counterpart for August 21.
The US administration has imposed additional tariffs of 25% on India in connection with its purchase of Russian oil. Along with the US' decision to impose a 25% tariff on Indian goods taken earlier, the tariff for the South Asian republic will now total 50%. US President Donald Trump said earlier that India always imported most of its military equipment from Russia, being the largest buyer of Russian energy resources along with China. The Indian Foreign Ministry slammed US and EU attacks on Russian oil imports as unjustified, as Western countries used to encourage such trade and continued to purchase goods and services from Russia themselves. Following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump admitted that Washington would not impose import duties on Russia's trading partners.