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MOSCOW. – India’s relationship with Russia is based on “mutual trust and mutual respect,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Moscow yesterday, where he also said he appreciated President Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
Mr Modi was speaking in an address to the Indian diaspora on his first visit to Russia in five years.
His two-day visit coincides with a NATO summit in Washington expected to be dominated by the Ukraine war, although a senior Indian foreign ministry official last week said there was no significance in the timing and Mr Modi’s visit was part of a long-standing calendar of summits between the two countries.
“Every Indian considers Russia to be India’s friend in good and bad times,” he said.
“The commitment of our relationship has been tested multiple times, and it has emerged very strong each time,” Mr Modi said, adding that he appreciated his “dear friend” Mr Putin for it.
Russia has been India’s largest weapons provider for decades and New Delhi and Moscow have had close ties since Soviet times.
The West, especially the US, has been seeking to strengthen ties with India as a potential counterweight to an ascendant China in the region
But New Delhi and the West have taken differing stances on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The US State Department said on Monday it had raised concerns with India about its relationship with Russia.
India has refrained from criticising Russia and has increased its purchases of cheap Russian oil to record levels, while urging Ukraine and Russia to resolve their conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
Mr Putin welcomed Mr Modi late on Monday, greeting the Indian leader as his “dear friend” and said he was “very happy” to see him, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.
After the meeting in the Kremlin, Mr Putin awarded Mr Modi with Russia’s first and highest state award – the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. The awarding took place five years after Mr Putin signed a corresponding decree.
According to the decree, Modi was honoured with this award “for his outstanding merit in development of the particularly privileged strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India, as well as friendly ties between Russian and Indian peoples.”
Last time, Mr Modi visited Moscow in 2015, and visited Russia in 2019, when he came to Vladivostok. – Agencies
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