World

PM Modi, President Putin Reaffirm Strong India-Russia Partnership At SCO Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday underlined that Moscow and New Delhi continue to strengthen their broad-based partnership, describing it as ‘absolutely non-partisan’ and rooted in the will of their people.

Key Takeaways

“Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades – friendly, trusting. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future, and these relations are absolutely non-partisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our countries,” President Putin stated during his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China.

The two leaders reviewed cooperation in sectors such as economy, finance, and energy, expressing satisfaction with the steady progress of bilateral ties.

“It is symbolic that it (meeting) is taking place on the sidelines of the SCO summit, an organisation that allows for the unification of the efforts of the heads of state of the Global South and East, efforts to create an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia,” President Putin noted.

He further added, “Dear Mr Prime Minister, dear friend! December 21 marks 15 years since the adoption of the Joint Statement, which noted the emergence of our relations at the level of a special privileged strategic partnership. It can be confidently stated that multifaceted Russian-Indian relations are actively developing on these principles.”

The Russian President pointed out that trade, tourism, and economic engagement continue to grow, while both sides closely coordinate on global platforms such as the UN, BRICS, G20, and SCO.

“Tourist exchange is developing. We closely coordinate our efforts in the international arena: the UN, BRICS, the Group of Twenty and, of course, the SCO. And today [we have] a good opportunity to discuss the main tasks of further development of multifaceted bilateral cooperation in various areas,” Putin remarked.