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Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly backed India's strategic autonomy, asserting that any Western sanctions threats against New Delhi would "boomerang immediately" and affirming that the South Asian nation has consistently been "guided by its national interests".
The Russian president emphasised that India remains 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 Putin lauded the robust trajectory of New Delhi's global engagements. "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 underscored that Moscow's extensive bilateral cooperation with New Delhi "is not subject to the political environment", reiterating that the Kremlin remains unyielding in its geopolitical commitments. "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 shifting dynamics of global economic governance, Putin observed that "BRICS has overtaken the G7" in terms of sheer economic volume, while explicitly hailing India as a "key partner" owing to its pioneering advancements in the global IT and software sectors. According to Putin, developing economies are commanding an increasingly dominant share of the global financial ecosystem, contrasting sharply with the diminishing footprint 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, the Russian President 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 projected a highly optimistic growth trajectory for the BRICS alliance in comparison to Western nations, 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 stated, "Another of our key partners, India, is one of the leading players in the IT industry." The Russian president concluded by acknowledging India's massive technological footprint, noting that the country "accounts for a significant share of the global software market." (ANI)
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