PM Modi congratulates Putin, both sides agree to further strengthen ties

Russia’s seven-day national plebiscite has voted in favour of keeping Putin in power until at least 2036.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Twitter/Narendra Modi/File)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called up Russian President Vladimir Putin and congratulated him for successful completion of the vote on constitutional amendments in Russia.

Russia’s seven-day national plebiscite has voted in favour of keeping Putin in power until at least 2036.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs statement, Putin “thanked the Prime Minister for the phone call and reiterated his commitment to further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries in all spheres”.

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India is looking at expeditious defence equipment supplies from Russia in the wake of the border standoff with China.

“They agreed to maintain the momentum of bilateral contacts and consultations, leading to the annual bilateral summit to be held in India later this year. Prime Minister conveyed his keenness to welcome President Putin in India for the bilateral Summit,” the MEA stated.

The Kremlin too echoed the MEA’s statement, “The two leaders discussed topical issues on the Russian-Indian agenda and confirmed their mutual commitment to further strengthening the privileged strategic partnership between the two countries and close cooperation both in the bilateral format and within international organisations and associations. It was agreed to continue contacts at various levels,” it stated.

Modi tweeted, “Had a telephone conversation with my friend, President Putin. Congratulated him for the recent Victory Day celebrations in Moscow and also for the successful completion of the Russian vote on Constitutional Reforms.”

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“President Putin and I agreed to maintain regular consultations in the coming months, as we prepare for a successful visit by him to India later this year. The India-Russia partnership can and will play an important role in the post-COVID world,” the PM tweeted.

The Kremlin, in its statement, made it clear that Putin had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Modi “at the initiative of the Indian side”.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between India and Russia over the last month. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the Russia-India-China trilateral meeting.

Also, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Moscow and met Deputy PM Yuri Borisov.

Shubhajit Roy

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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