00:00So the German leader is urging India to reduce its reliance on Russian energy and also arms.
00:07Isn't this something the Modi government is actually seriously considering?
00:12Because we must remember President Vladimir Putin, of course, visited India just back in December.
00:20Yeah, that's true, because India and Russia share a long historical and a very deep strategic and security partnership.
00:28And India has of late reduced its dependence on Russian oil.
00:34And this comes in the backdrop of the U.S. tariffs, which have been imposed by the Trump presidency in India, which is almost the highest in the world at 50 percent.
00:44So there has been a gradual reduction.
00:47But what Chancellor Merce has not really emphasized is to completely stop, because both of them know that we need each other in terms of strategic partnership.
00:56So there is this unhidden, unstated rule that says that you need to reduce the dependence on oil and Russia, but it's also given that since Germany is looking at diversifying and looking at new partners, given uncertainty Germany faces in Europe, and even particularly with the U.S., I think it's looking at India more closely.
01:17And it's giving that space to India, and it's giving that space to India under the strategic autonomy.
01:21But having said that, in U.S., the tariffs itself is an indicator that India is reducing the dependency, given that there is this trade deal which is being in the works for some time now, between the UK, India and U.S.
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