New Delhi has responded with a reality check to the collective West’s attempts to pressure India through economic and trade coercion to sever its ties with Moscow.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told a weekend gathering of global foreign policy and security experts, including Western elites, assembled in the Indian capital what they would rather not hear: India’s ties with Russia are “not easily forgotten.”

“For us, Russia, and the Soviet Union before that, was a country that stood by us in many ways when our security, when our territorial integrity were under threat. And at a time when, you know, much of the world preferred backing a military regime next to us," the Indian foreign minister said, describing that history as a continuing influence on New Delhi’s ties with Moscow.

The West has used its control of the world’s finance system and geopolitical alliances to try to isolate Moscow ever since the Ukraine conflict began in 2022. Those efforts have largely failed as the world’s emerging economies and countries of the Global South have developed closer economic and trade ties with Moscow.

However, the illegal tariffs and sanctions wielded by the West have also increased the cost of economic activity and fanned inflation, inflicting economic pain across the world. The US also recently passed a law to impose steep sanctions on Russia’s top energy buyers, which includes India. New Delhi has warned that such tariffs will impact bilateral relations and that ensuring energy security for the country’s 1.4 billion population is its priority.

India and Russia have maintained strong relations since the 1950s, Jaishankar told the Munich Leaders Meeting. The relationship was shaped in part by support from the Soviet Union during periods when India faced security challenges, he pointed out.

Military cooperation remains a key component of the relationship, alongside nuclear and space cooperation, while trade, investment, energy, and natural resources have become increasingly important, the foreign minister said.

Russia accounted for 40% of India’s major arms imports in 2021-25, the largest share from any supplier, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The share has fallen from 51% in 2016-20 and 70% in 2011-15 as India has diversified its suppliers.

Jaishankar’s remarks also come as New Delhi has stepped up its involvement in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At the same meeting, he said India had moved “beyond advocacy” and was holding talks with both Moscow and Kiev over Black Sea shipping, grain and energy exports, as well as possible non-attack arrangements.

India has maintained that the conflict should ultimately be resolved through dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiations.