Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has informed that he had a very cordial and fruitful conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone on Friday.

It is said that besides discussing the latest situation in Ukraine in the said talks, there was also a discussion on strengthening the bilateral relations between India and Russia.

'I had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I would like to express my gratitude to him for informing me about the latest developments regarding Ukraine," PM Modi said through social media. He said, 'I am looking forward to welcoming him to India later this year.'

The dialogue was held at a time when US President Donald Trump has announced the decision to impose high customs duty on India. President Trump on Wednesday announced

that India will increase the customs rate on Indian goods from 25 percent to 50 percent citing Russian oil import as the reason. Russian oil is considered a major economic source in the war with Ukraine. 25 percent customs has been implemented initially from Thursday and the remaining 25 percent is scheduled to be implemented within the next three weeks.

India has managed to stabilize domestic fuel prices by saving billions of dollars from importing Russian oil, which has brought relief to common citizens.

Russia has been India's major defense partner and the history of friendly relations between the two countries runs deep since the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had a courtesy call on President Putin in Moscow on Thursday.

The Kremlin described efforts to force nations to cut trade ties with Russia as "illegal," though it did not name any nations.

According to the Kremlin, the summit between President Trump and President Putin on Ukraine is expected to take place within the next few days.