Beijing/IBNS: In a strong optics of diplomacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took a car ride with Russia's President Vladimir Putin after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Tianjin.

The premiers of the two countries headed for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the meet.

The Prime Minister shared a clip with Putin on X and wrote, "After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting. Conversations with him are always insightful."

The picture has fat-fetched meaning at a time India has been slapped with an additional tariff of 25 percent by the US as a penalty for buying oil from Russia.

The Trump administration, which has so far been snubbed by New Delhi after tariff imposition, has sanctioned India to discourage the buying of Russian oil.

The US argues the purchase of oil is fuelling money into the Russian economy amid Moscow's war with Ukraine.

Since the conflict in Ukraine began in early 2022, India significantly increased its imports of discounted Russian crude oil—now comprising over 30 percent of its total crude imports.

In response, the US proposed tariffs and trade measures targeting India’s exports to discourage this behavior.

SCO condemns Pahalgam terror attack

In a big diplomatic win, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has condemned the Pahalgam terror attack after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in his bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event in Tianjin.

Mentioning the attack, the member states expressed "deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the dead and the wounded".

The member states said attempts to use terrorists, separatists and extremist groups for mercenary purposes and "double standards" in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable, NDTV reported.

Earlier, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misry said PM Modi had raised the matter of cross-border terrorism in the bilateral meeting with Jinping and China has vowed to support its neighbour on this issue.

"The issue of cross-border terrorism was raised by the Prime Minister and he outlined his understanding very crisply and very specifically. He outlined the fact that this is a scourge that both China and India have been victims of, and India is still combating this menace, and he asked for China's support on this particular issue. As I said, the Chinese have extended their support in various ways on addressing this issue," Misry told the press.