Modi, Putin review ties, discuss future initiatives
The two leaders reviewed progress on several issues of bilateral cooperation in follow-up to recent high-level exchanges between the two countries
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday reviewed bilateral cooperation and agreed to chalk out a road map for future initiatives during a telephonic conversation.
“Had a good conversation with President Putin. We discussed various positive developments in our Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership and agreed to chalk out a roadmap for future initiatives. We also had a useful exchange of views on various regional and global issues, including Russia’s Presidency of the BRICS,” Modi posted on X.
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The two leaders reviewed progress on several issues of bilateral cooperation in follow-up to recent high-level exchanges between the two countries, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.
“They positively assessed the developments in bilateral relations and agreed to develop a roadmap for future initiatives to further strengthen the India-Russia Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership.”
The PM conveyed his best wishes for Russia’s Presidency of BRICS in 2024 and assured of India’s full support, the statement said, adding that the two leaders agreed to remain in touch.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Russia in December-end to bolster bilateral ties. He held talks with the Russian leadership focussed on future cooperation, including energy, military-tech, trade and investment. The two sides also discussed prospects for cooperation in piloted space programmes, rocket engines, satellite navigation systems and military hardware.
India and Russia also signed agreements to move forward with future units of the Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu, which will have six reactors with a capacity of 1,000 MW each. The first two reactors became operational in 2014 and 2016 and work is underway on two more.
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Modi and Putin spoke at a time when Indian refiners have significantly cut Russian crude imports and plan to further decrease shipments from the sanctions-hit country after Moscow steeply reduced discounts from about $10 a barrel to around $2 in recent months. Indian oil companies have decided to cut crude imports from Russia because of only one reason, price, HT reported last week.
The sanctions against Russia followed its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and there was criticism of India’s choice to import crude from the country, but New Delhi has consistently maintained that its primary focus is energy security and ensuring stable fuel prices.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has also hit the Indian military, including the repair and overhaul (ROH) of critical equipment in the Indian Air Force’s Russian-origin aircraft, including aero-engines and avionics, and self-reliance plans are being pursued to address the situation.
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“The Russia-Ukraine conflict has resulted in the inability to send major aggregates like aero-engines, critical avionics and specialist weapons abroad for ROH. To mitigate the situation, 44 shortlisted projects pertaining to Russian fighters, transport aircraft and helicopters are being progressed through Other Capital Procurement Procedure (OCPP),” the defence ministry said in a recent year-end review.
More than 60% of the equipment and weapons systems used by India’s armed forces continues to be of Russian origin, though New Delhi has stepped up efforts in recent years to acquire more Western platforms such as fighter jets, submarines, transport aircraft, and helicopters.
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