India’s strategic partnership with Russia is ‘incomparable in content’, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russia has been “a pillar of strength” for India, said Modi after holding the annual summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin who is on a day-long visit to New Delhi.
Modi said that “we have met twice at the opposite ends of the world – at Brazil and Australia”. He recalled that President Putin and the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched the annual summit process in 2000.
Modi said the two countries have “a strategic partnership that is incomparable in content”. Russia has been “a steadfast supporter” even in difficult moments of history, he added.
Speaking after his summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is a need to boost trade between India and Russia. “Russia is keen to deepen the political dialogue between the two countries to strengthen cooperation in various areas,” he added.
The Russian President said the two countries have a special privileged partnership and it continues to develop dynamically.
Referring to the annual bilateral trade, the leader said it was not enough. “We talked of measures to diversify bilateral trade,” Putin added.
India has agreed to identify a second site for Russian-designed nuclear plants, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday.
In a series of tweets following summit-level talks between PM Modi and Russian President Putin, Akbaruddin said the two countries have agreed on strategic vision to strengthen cooperation in atomic energy. “At Summit India-Russia agree on Strategic Vision to strengthen cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy,” Akbaruddin tweeted.
Earlier, India and Russia held their 15th Annual Summit talks in New Delhi on Thursday.
