Modi and Putin discuss ‘special strategic’ ties, future roadmap

“Had a good conversation with President Putin. We discussed various positive developments in our Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership and agreed to chalk out a roadmap for future initiatives. We also had a useful exchange of views on various regional and global issues, including Russia’s Presidency of the BRICS,” the PM said.

Subsequently, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders reviewed progress on a number of issues of bilateral cooperation as a follow-up to recent high-level exchanges between the two countries.

“They positively assessed the developments in bilateral relations,” it said, adding that the PM conveyed to Putin his best wishes for Russia’s Presidency of BRICS in 2024 and assured him of India’s full support. The two leaders agreed to remain in touch, it said.

Had a good conversation with President Putin. We discussed various positive developments in our Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership and agreed to chalk out a roadmap for future initiatives. We also had a useful exchange of views on various regional and global issues,…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2024

The official readout by the Kremlin of the phone conversation also called the ties between India and Russia “a particularly privileged strategic partnership”. It added: “The achievements in practical cooperation in such areas as trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, energy, transport and logistics, and cooperation in the Russian Far East were noted with satisfaction.”

Putin and Modi expressed interest in further intensifying mutually beneficial bilateral ties and wished each other success in the upcoming elections — presidential in Russia and parliamentary in India, the Russian statement said.

Both leaders emphasised their “readiness to closely coordinate their approaches to the BRICS agenda”, it said, adding that “India intends to help implement the goals and objectives of Russia’s chairmanship”.

“The leaders also touched on several other international issues, including the situation around Ukraine,” it added. The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on for close to two years now, with no signs of relenting.

The phone call between the two leaders comes a day after a meeting of the national security advisors of almost 80 countries in Davos to discuss a peace formula for Ukraine, with host Switzerland asserting that India can play a key role leveraging its influence with Russia. India was represented at the meet by its Deputy NSA Vikram Misri.

The meeting also saw many participants echoing India’s position that war can never be a solution and that dialogue was a must to resolve the situation. During his conversations with Putin, Modi has said that it is not a time of war.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said participation from BRICS countries, including India, is very important, as these are countries which have got some relations continuing with Russia. He also lauded the position taken by countries like India, saying their actions are facilitating this collective movement.

Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had made a five-day visit to Russia. After their meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had praised India for taking a “responsible approach” to discussing geo-political hotspots like Ukraine. Jaishankar had said that India-Russia relations remain “very steady, very strong” and are based on “strategic convergence”, “geopolitical interests” and are “mutually beneficial”.

Days after returning from Russia, Jaishankar also spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Kuleba said he informed his Indian counterpart about “Russia’s recent escalation of terror and mass air attacks, which caused civilian suffering and destruction”.

India and Russia have an annual summit at the leaders’ level, where the Indian Prime Minister and the Russian President visit each other’s country every alternate year. However, after the war in Ukraine broke out, Modi did not travel to Russia for the annual summit in 2022, and Putin could not come for the G20 summit in Delhi in September last year.

While it is Modi’s turn to visit Russia for the annual summit, the visit didn’t take place last year. No reasons have been cited so far, and “scheduling” has been the key challenge, sources said. The last summit was held on December 6, 2021 in Delhi, during Putin’s visit.