Indian PM Modi meets Russian President Vladimir Putin

Informal Summits are now a way to maintain smooth relations between countries. After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, PM Modi now travelled to Sochi for an informal summit with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Modi in his opening remarks at the landmark informal Summit with Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, “Russia is India’s old-time friend. We share long-standing historical ties, and Mr President is my personal friend and a friend of India… Russia and you specifically always played a very important role in my political career. In 2001, when I served as Chief Minister of Gujarat, I made my first visit to Russia with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And you were the first international leader I met as Chief Minister. Moscow and you yourself marked the beginning of my career”.

Putin said Russia and India have always had each other’s backs and also talked about the military-to-military cooperation between the two countries and added, “There is no need to explain Russian-Indian relations since we all know that they have deep roots. However, we have been able to create additional momentum recently.”

Economic cooperation was the main focus of the summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday, “They discussed the entire spectrum of our privileged strategic partnership (this is how relations between Russia and India are described). Special attention was focused on economic cooperation. They noted the stable growth in bilateral trade”.

He further added, “There are serious plans for further cooperation between our oil corporations”

While leaving Russia, Modi tweeted,

Greetings to the friendly people of Russia. I look forward to my visit to Sochi tomorrow and my meeting with President Putin. It is always a pleasure to meet him. @KremlinRussia_E @PutinRF_Eng

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 20, 2018

Image Source – CNN.com