Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly backed India’s strategic autonomy, stating that any Western sanctions threats against New Delhi would “boomerang immediately”. He also affirmed that the South Asian nation has consistently been “guided by its national interests”.
The Russian President stressed that India stays entirely free to select global products that “they consider to be most up to date, most applicable for them and obviously offering the best price-quality ratio”.
Speaking at the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Vladimir Putin praised the strong and robust trajectory of New Delhi’s international engagement and diplomatic outreach.
“India always acts as a sovereign country and under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, any potential threats of sanctions would boomerang immediately. We have been in close talks with Prime Minister Modi for a long while. All the sanctions have been eliminated and the relationship between the USA and India is developing successfully, as I understand. India is free to choose the products that they consider to be most up to date, most applicable for them and obviously offering the best price-quality ratio. India is always guided by its national interests,” Putin stated.
The Russian president further emphasised that Moscow’s broad-based cooperation with New Delhi “is not subject to the political environment,” reaffirming that the Kremlin remains steadfast in its geopolitical commitments and strategic partnerships.
“Our cooperation with India, just like with all other partners of ours, is not subject to the political environment. We can’t be dictated to not deliver that to India. Nobody can dictate to us and nobody would even try to do that. We will always stand true to commitments given to our partners, especially partners like India,” Putin added.
Highlighting the changing contours of global economic governance, Putin observed that “BRICS has overtaken the G7” in terms of overall economic output. He also described India as a “key partner,” citing its leadership and innovation in the global IT and software industries.
According to Putin, developing economies are accounting for an increasingly larger share of the global financial system, a trend he contrasted with the declining economic influence of traditional Western powers.
“If you look at the global GDP dynamics of the last five years, you will see that almost half of its annual growth, 49%, is accounted for by BRICS countries, whereas the contribution of the so-called Group of Seven is estimated at 18%,” Putin pointed out.
He added that “the share of BRICS in the world GDP, based on purchasing power parity, stands at 40%, whereas the G7 share is less than 29%.”
Detailing the expanding economic divergence between the blocs, Putin remarked, “So BRICS has already overtaken the G7, and it did so back in 2020, but this gap is increasing. This gap is expected to grow in favour of BRICS.”
Putin expressed confidence in the stronger growth prospects of the BRICS bloc compared with Western economies noting that “the G7 is going to grow at best by 1.1% per year, whereas BRICS nations are going to grow by more than 4%.”
Applauding India’s formidable prowess within the global digital landscape, Putin said, “Another of our key partners, India, is one of the leading players in the IT industry.”
He concluded by highlighting India’s substantial presence in the technology sector, noting that the country “accounts for a significant share of the global software market.”
