New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Monday evening. While welcoming him, he said that despite the challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic, the relationship between India and Russia continues to become stronger.
In his opening remark at the 21st round of the Indo-Russia summit with the Russian President, PM Modi said, “Despite the challenges posed by covid, there is no change in the pace of growth of India-Russia relations. Our special & privileged strategic partnership continues to become stronger.”
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“Our meeting today will strengthen our special and privileged strategic partnership. The initiatives that we take today will further increase the scope of our cooperation to new areas,” he added.
While Putin echoed the sentiments, he said that Russia perceives India as a friendly nation.
“We perceive India as a great power, a friendly nation, and a time-tested friend. The relations between our nations are growing and I am looking into the future.” Putin said.
“Currently, mutual investments stand at about 38 billion, with a bit more investment coming from the Russian side. We cooperate greatly in the military & technical sphere like no other country. We develop high technologies together as well as produce in India.” he added.
Further, talking about Afghanistan, Putin said that we are concerned about everything related to terrorism. Both the country will fight against terrorism in the coming days.
Putin asserted that trade between the two countries has increased by 38 percent this year.
“India is our longstanding friend. Trade between the countries has increased this year. We see India as a great power and our military ties are unparalleled. India-Russia bilateral trade has risen by 38%, working together on various sectors including energy and space.” said Putin.
Notably, this is the first face-to-face meeting between PM Modi and his counterpart after the meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brasilia in November 2019.
Earlier in the day, the two countries held their first 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue where Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu signed an agreement to manufacture nearly 6 lakhs AK-203 rifles under a joint venture in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, worth Rs. 5000 crores.
The second agreement was signed on amending agreement to extend military technology cooperation for the next decade from 2021 to 2031.
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