Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Russia’s re-elected President Vladimir Putin. During the conversation, PM Modi reiterated India’s stance of dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward for the Russia-Ukraine war. PM Modi also congratulated President Putin on his re-election as the President of the Russian Federation and conveyed his best wishes for “peace, progress and prosperity of the friendly people of Russia“.
Vladimir Putin won his fifth presidential tenure in Moscow‘s corridors of powers.
PM Modi and Vladimir Putin agreed to make concerted efforts towards further strengthening the Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the years to come.
Modi and Putin also reviewed progress in various issues of bilateral cooperation, and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
The two leaders agreed to remain in touch, said India government officials.
“Spoke with President Putin and congratulated him on his re-election as the President of the Russian Federation. We agreed to work together to further deepen and expand India-Russia Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership in the years ahead.”, PM Modi wrote on microblogging site X.
Meanwhile, Ukraine‘s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is set to visit India next week as Kyiv looks to build support for its peace plan, Reuters reports. This will be the first visit by a top Ukrainian official since Russia’s invasion two years ago.
Kuleba’s visit comes at the invitation of his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, after a telephone call between Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the start of the year, said one of the officials.
New Delhi, which has traditionally had close economic and defence ties with Moscow, has refrained from criticising Russia over its February 2022 invasion, instead increasing purchases of Russian oil to record levels.
PM Modi has spoken several times to the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia, having met President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy last May on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
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Published: 20 Mar 2024, 03:59 PM IST