India, Aug. 8 -- India and Russia doubled down on their time-tested relationship on Friday against the backdrop of a US punitive tariff on New Delhi for buying Russian oil, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin pledging to deepen their strategic partnership.

Modi spoke on the phone with Putin to review the bilateral relationship, a day after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva dialled the Indian leader to discuss the fallout of US President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

"Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine," Modi said in a post on X after the conversation.

"We also reviewed the progress in our bilateral ...