Bilateral relations between India and Russia have been making steady headway in spite of turbulences in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar during a meeting at the Kremlin on Wednesday.
“Our trade is growing for the second year running and at a confident pace. This year, the growth rates were even higher than last year,” Putin told Jaishankar, who is on a five-day visit to Russia to review and expand New Delhi’s time-tested ties with Moscow.
The Russian President said that the two nations had not only witnessed an expanding cooperation in crude and coal, but also in high technology areas over the last two years.
Putin noted during his remarks to the top Indian diplomat that Prime Minister Modi Narendra had been striving to resolve the Ukraine conflict through “peaceful means”, a Kremlin readout said.
During the meeting, the Russian President also extended an invitation to PM Modi to visit Russia next year.
“We will have an opportunity to discuss the current issues and talk about the prospects for developing Russian-Indian relations. We have to cover a lot of ground,” Putin stated.
For his part, Jaishankar said that Indian PM Narendra Modi looked forward to visiting Russia next year at a mutually convenient date.
The Russian President also conveyed his wishes for the success of the national election in India early next year.
“We wish success to our friends in India. We believe we will maintain our traditional friendly ties in any alignment of political forces,” Putin said.
Jaishankar Appreciates Putin’s Guidance on Strengthening Russia-India Ties
The Indian foreign minister said in a social media post after his meeting with President Putin that he appreciated the Russian leader’s guidance on further developing the bilateral ties.
Jaishankar said that he handed over a personal message for President Putin from PM Modi.
The top diplomat also apprised the Russian President of his meetings with Russian deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry, Denis Manturov, as well as with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Jaishankar lauded the growing trade volume between India and Russia, noting that it had already crossed a historic high of $50 billion.
“And we believe that this is something whose potential is now only beginning to be visible,” he said.
Jaishankar also noted that the two nations have signed agreements for building additional reactors for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) during the visit.