Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russia President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. (Source: Twitter/@PMOIndia)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sochi on Monday, where he held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of an informal summit between the two nations. The summit is being held on the lines of the Wuhan informal summit between PM Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. The meeting between the two leaders is the first since the re-election of Putin as the President of Russia.
In a series of tweets — in Russian and then in English — on the eve of his visit to Russia, Modi said he looked forward to his meeting with Putin. “Greetings to the friendly people of Russia. I look forward to my visit to Sochi tomorrow and my meeting with President Putin. It is always a pleasure to meet him,” Modi tweeted. During their informal summit in Sochi, the two leaders will primarily focus on global and regional issues, including the impact of the US decision to withdraw from a nuclear deal with Iran.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China. (Source: PIB)
Russian President Putin and Prime Minister Modi paid special attention to the economic talks, Lavrov said. "We discussed the whole spectrum of our particularly privileged strategic partnership, paid special attention to the economy, noted the steady growth of trade turnover," the minister said.
'The Monday talks were very intense,' Russia's official Tass news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. 'I am confident that the ongoing informal contacts between the leaders of Russia and India will be useful and will help define the further guidelines for our development and strategic partnership,' he said.
Putin said last year there was a considerable increase in mutual trade and pointed out that there was an increase of more than 17 per cent in the first several months.
"There is no need to explain Russian-Indian relations, since we all know that they have deep roots. However, we have been able to create additional momentum recently. Last year, our trade saw a significant increase, adding another 17 percent since the beginning of this year," Russia President Vladimir Putin says.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a visit to Russia, said he had "extremely productive" discussions with President Vladimir Putin and they reviewed the complete range of India-Russia relations as well as other global subjects during their first ever informal summit in Sochi.
Visuals from Sirius Educational Centre in Sochi
Productive discussions with President Putin during the informal summit in Sochi, PMO India tweeted.
PM Modi also invoked former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his opening speech at the informal summit in Sochi. "Being a friend of Russia for a long time, we want to see Russia as a strong and confident country having an important role in the multipolar world," Modi quoted Vajpayee as saying during Putin's visit to India in 2000. He said that "it is our pleasure to see that dream and farsightedness of Atal Bihari Vajpayee come true".
PM Modi also recalled Putin's first visit to India as the Russian President in 2000. "At that time you had praised the civilisation of India and Russia, and strong democracy, lively democracy to define our relations," he said.
Recalling his first visit to Russia with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001, PM Modi said Putin was the first world leader whom he met after becoming the chief minister of Gujarat.
Welcoming Prime Minister Modi to Sochi, Russia President Vladimir Putin said his visit would give a fresh impetus to bilateral ties. He said Russia and India have been cooperating on several fronts in the multilateral and the international fora. He also mentioned military-to-military cooperation between the two countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude towards Russia for playing a major role in helping India get a permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is an eight nation bloc that aims at military and economic cooperation between the member states. India and Pakistan were admitted into the organisation last year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a meeting in Sochi.
Russia President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to be in India later this year for the annual summit during which key bilateral issues will be deliberated upon. The annual summit talks between the top leadership of India and Russia have been taking place alternately in Moscow and New Delhi since 2000.
There could be more such informal summits between PM Modi and other world leaders in the coming months as India eyes to play an important role in global power dynamics, PTI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today arrived in Russia's Black Sea coastal city Sochi for an informal summit with President Vladimir Putin. This is PM Modi's second informal summit in as many months as he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jingpin in China's Wuhan in a similar format last month.
According to Kremlin, Tthe Sirius Educational Centre was established on the basis of the Olympic infrastructure at the President’s initiative in December 2014. The aim of the center was to reveal talent early and develop and support gifted children from all Russian regions. These are children who display exceptional abilities in the arts, sports, the natural sciences or who have achieved success in technical creativity. Every month 600 children aged from 10 to 17 receive tuition-free education at the center. They are guided by over 100 teachers and coaches.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Russia's Sochi for an informal summit with President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the coastal city at around 01.00 pm and hold restricted one-on-one talks.
The Indian Ambassador had earlier informed that all preparations were done to conduct the informal summit between Indian PM and the Russian head of state in Sochi. Pankaj Saran talking to news agency ANI had said, "This frequency of meetings is just another important aspect of our relationship with Russia.”
At a time when India plans to purchase five S-400 Triumf air defence systems for around $4.5 billion from Russia, the US today said its friends and allies should take into consideration the law under which any significant purchase of military equipment from Moscow would attract American sanctions. US officials said the major defence purchase by India from Russia would attract sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanction Act (CAATSA), which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump in August 2017 and went into effect in January this year.
Official sources said the possible impact of the US sanctions against Russia under CAATSA on Indo-Russia defence cooperation may also figure during the talks between the two leaders.
READ | US asks countries to consider CAATSA before major Russian military purchase
Prime Minister Modi and Russia President Vladimir Putin may also discuss the issue of extending Indo-Russia civil nuclear cooperation to third countries, possible areas for cooperation for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, India’s engagement with five-nation Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the situation in the Korean peninsula. The talks aim to use the friendship and trust between the two nations to improve cooperation on key international and regional matters. A major part of the informal summit between the two leaders would be one-to-one and there might be limited segment for restricted delegation-level discussions.
The Indian envoy to Russia said the talks between the two leaders have been scheduled for 1 pm followed by lunch. “We expect them to be together for a few hours. It is a great opportunity to discuss different issues,” Saran said. Saran also said that in a few months time, President Putin will travel to India for a summit. “This frequency of meetings is just another important aspect of our relationship with Russia,” he said. The Iran nuclear deal is also likely to be one of the focusses of the informal summit. “Iran is a very important subject and I am sure, it will come up for discussion between the two leaders as they both share relations with Iran and have stakes in that country,” Saran said. On terrorism, the envoy said besides India, Russia too has been a victim of terrorism. “Russia has also been a victim and is concerned about the spread of terrorism within its own country. The threat that the Islamic State poses will also be taken up,” he said.
According to russiatrek.org, Sochi is Russia’s only subtropical resort city located in Krasnodar Krai, on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, 1,620 km south of Moscow. Sochi is informally referred to as the summer, the southern and resort “capital” of Russia. The city is a major transportation hub as well as a large economic and cultural center of the Black Sea coast. The territory of Sochi has an ancient history. The first people appeared in the vicinity of present Sochi about 400-350 thousand years ago.
Sochi was founded as a fort called Alexandria on April 21, 1838. The purpose of the construction of fortifications was the suppression of the slave trade and smuggling of weapons. In 1839, the fort received a new name - Navaginskaya fortress. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856, the local garrisons were transported to Novorossiysk, because of the English-French squadron that appeared in the Black Sea. In 1864, the fortress was rebuilt as Dahovsky fort. Since 1874, it was known as Dahovsky Posad, from 1896 - Sochi (after the name of the Sochi River, on the banks of which the fort was standing). On June 14, 1909, the first resort “The Caucasian Riviera” was opened. This date is the beginning of Sochi as a resort city. Sochi became a town in 1917.
During their informal summit in Sochi, the two leaders will primarily focus on global and regional issues, including the impact of the US decision to withdraw from a nuclear deal with Iran. “Am confident the talks with President Putin will further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia,” Modi said in another tweet. Sources said the two leaders will meet for four to six hours for the “agendaless” talks, where deliberations on bilateral issues are likely to be very limited. They said the issues may include economic impact on India and Russia in the wake of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the situation in Afghanistan, Syria, terrorism and matters relating to upcoming SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and BRICS summits.
READ | PM Narendra Modi, Putin meet to focus on Iran nuclear deal impact, terrorism
09.40 am: Arrival in Sochi
01.05 pm: Restricted talks with President Vladimir Putin
02.00 pm: Lunch and Tete-e-Tete with President Vladimir Putin
03.45 pm: Visit to Moya Russia-Ethno Centre
05.00 pm: Visit to Sirius Educational Centre
06.10 pm: Departure for Delhi
The Prime Minister emplaned for Russia early morning and will reach the coastal city of Sochi at 09.40 am, where he will meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Hello, Welcome to the Indian Express LIVE Blog. Stay connected as we bring to you all the updates from the city of Sochi on the coast of Black Sea as PM Modi meets with President Vladimir Putin in another Informal Summit.