In a meeting with Union External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at Kremlin on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin wished “dear friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi “success” in the next year’s general elections.
The Russian President made the remarks while extending an invitation to PM Modi to visit Russia.
“…we will be very glad to see our dear friend his excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi to paying a visit to Russia.. so we will be able to discuss the current issues and talk on the prospects of Russian and Indian relations. we have a lot… an open field of work ahead of us,” Putin said.
He further added, “So, please convey my very very best wishes to his excellency and convey that we want to see him, expect him to be in Russia.”
The Russian President continued, “Although, I know India next year will have a busy political schedule. the general elections for parliament are scheduled for next year and we wish our very dear friend every success and we hope that…”
Putin, however, quickly changed to a more neutral stance and said the friendly ties between India and Russia will continue regardless of the outcome.
“…anyway, no matter what the political alignment of forces would be, the traditional conventional friendly ties will persist between our nations” he added.
#WATCH | External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow pic.twitter.com/nn5su3wASA
— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2023
Dr Jaishankar conveyed PM Modi’s personal greetings to Putin and shared a his letter addressed to the Russian President, which highlighted the state of India-Russia cooperation and the progress made by the two nations in recent days.
The Union Minister told Putin that PM Modi is looking forward to visiting Russia next year and a date of mutual convenience will be decided soon.