Modi meets Russian President Vladimir Putin during their informal meet in Sochi (Source- Twitter/Raveesh Kumar)
Following the lines of his informal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi for their first informal summit. Modi said the seeds of the ‘strategic partnership’ sown by then Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Putin have now grown into a “special privileged strategic partnership” which is a “very big achievement” in itself.
Emphasizing on the India-Russia relations, PM Modi said India and Russia have been friends for a long time and they have enjoyed an unbreakable friendship. “I am grateful to President Putin who invited me for an informal meeting and hence, in the long friendship of ours, this is a new aspect that has been attached to our relationship,” Modi said. “You have added a new aspect of an informal summit in the bilateral relationship which I think is a great occasion and creates trust,” he said.
Congratulating Putin for his fourth term as the President of Russia, Modi traced his long association with the Russian president whom he had met on his Russia visit with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001. “In my political career also, Russia and you (Putin) are very significant…As the chief minister of Gujarat, it was my first meeting with a foreign leader. Hence, the beginning of my international relations started from you and Russia,” Modi said. “Since then it has been 18 years, I have got several opportunities to meet you, to deliberate upon issues, and try to take the relations of India and Russia forward,” he added.
Modi also thanked Russia for playing a major role in helping India get a permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – an eight-nation bloc which aims at military and economic cooperation between the member states. India and Pakistan were inducted into the organisation last year. “We are working together on International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and BRICS,” Modi said.
And this is how close friends meet! PM @narendramodi with Russian President Putin on his arrival at Bocharev Creek in #Sochi for the bilateral meeting. Pictures reflecting our deep and long standing ties! pic.twitter.com/dt5lty2K6D
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) May 21, 2018
Meanwhile, Putin said Modi’s visit would give a fresh impetus to bilateral ties. Welcoming PM Modi to Bocharev Creek in Sochi ahead of the delegation-level talks, Putin highlighted the strong cooperation between the defense ministries of the two countries. “Our defense ministries maintain very close contacts and cooperation. It speaks about a very high strategic level of our partnership,” Putin said.
He also hailed joint activities of the two countries in the area of foreign politics, in particular within the United Nations, BRICS (an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the SCO.
Putin said last year there was a considerable increase in mutual trade and pointed out that there was an increase of more than 17 percent in the first several months.
Though the officials have maintained that the dialogue is going to be ‘agendaless’ and will only be an informal communique to use the friendship and trust between the two countries to create convergence on key global and regional issues, it is believed that US decision on Iran will be one of the major issue on the table.
The US decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear project can adversely impact India’s trade from the Middle East as Iran is India’s third largest supplier of crude oil and a major player in the Chabahar port project, which also has the Russian interest involved.
The other issues on the table may include the situation in Afghanistan, Syria, threat of terrorism and matters relating to upcoming SCO and BRICS summits. The sources said possible impact of the US sanctions against Russia under Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on Indo-Russia defence cooperation may also figure during the talks between Modi and Putin.