Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday backed India's economic autonomy and said that it has always acted like a “sovereign country”. He said that any attempts to threaten India with sanctions would “boomerang” under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Putin hailed defence and tech ties between India and Russia and said that experts from both the countries have been working on mid-range missile BrahMos. (REUTERS)“India always acts as a sovereign country and under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, any potential threats of sanctions would boomerang immediately. We have been in close talks with Prime Minister Modi for a long while,” Putin said while speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.He also said that India is “always guided by its national interests” and that the country is free to choose what suits its interests best. “India is free to choose the products that they consider to be most up to date, most applicable for them and obviously offering the best price-quality ratio,” he said.Also read: ‘Trust-based relations’: Putin on nearly 80 years of India-Russia ties; says Indians are talented, well educatedAccording to him, the relationship between India and the United States is “developing successfully” and that all the sanctions against India have been “eliminated”. Earlier, the US had imposed penalty tariff on India for buying oil from Russia amid its war with Ukraine.‘India-Russia ties not subject to political environment’Putin hailed defence and tech ties between India and Russia and said that experts from both the countries have been working on mid-range missile BrahMos.Also read: India-US trade pact first phase likely by mid-July"India and we have a very good, long-standing relationship in terms of military and technical cooperation interaction. A significant portion of the armed forces of India is equipped with Russian equipment. This is a tradition that dates back to the Soviet times. Our relations with the Indian friends are specific, thanks to our mutual trust. We concentrate not just on trade, buying and selling, but also on joint research and development. Indian and Russian experts have been working on the design of the mid-range missile BrahMos," Putin said.He also added that Russia's ties with India are not “subject to political environment” and that no one can dictate Russia to not deliver to India."Nobody can dictate to us and nobody would even try to do that... We will always stand true to commitments given to our partners, especially partners like India...," he said.(With inputs from ANI)