Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to further boost cooperation between the two strategic partners in crucial sectors like defence, energy and trade at a time when Russian economy was facing Western sanctions.
Putin, who arrived here last night, is likely to push for enhancing supply of military hardware to India as well as expansion of bilateral economic engagement in a range of areas.
It is the first annual summit meeting between Putin and Modi. The two leaders had met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil in July and during the G-20 summit in Australia last month.
The External Affairs Ministry on Thursday said that it hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India would lead to new beginnings, which would enable Russian investors to utilize the opportunities that are opening up through the 'Make in India' initiative.
"We hope this will lead to new beginnings which will enable Russian investors to utilize the opportunities that are opening up in India through Prime Minister's Make in India initiative and a variety of opportunities that have arisen. For example, Russia is amongst the largest producers of diamond. India is amongst the largest importers of diamond because we import them and then export polished diamonds," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said ahead of the 15th annual summit interaction between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi.
"It is our intention during the discussions to try and see if a beginning can be made in terms of direct import of Russian diamonds to India. Should we succeed in this, this will add sparkle to India- Russia bilateral ties. And, as you know, diamonds are forever and the sparkle will last forever," he added.
Akbaruddin said the two countries have been time-tested friends and added that there existed enormous opportunities in furthering trade ties between the two nations.
"India and Russia have a fraternal relationship and have been time- tested friends. Therefore, when President Putin meets our leadership you can expect that he will be given a warm welcome."
"India and Russia's bilateral trade is approximately ten billion. This is of course way below its potential. There exists enormous opportunities in the changes that are taking place in India as well as in Russia for our businessmen to engage each other. As part of discussions today, we have a group of CEOs from Russia, as well as from India, to interact among themselves and with our leadership," he said.
The India-Russia Annual Summit was initiated under President Putin's leadership during his visit to India in October 2000.
On Wednesday, as Putin flew in Delhi, PM Narendra Modi expressed confidence that the visit will take the bilateral relations to "newer heights."
"Delighted to welcome President Putin to India. Looking forward to a productive visit that will take India, Russia ties to newer heights," Modi tweeted in Russian.
"Times have changed, our friendship has not. Now we want to take this relation to the next level and this visit is a step in that direction," he said in a post on the micro-blogging site.
This year's summit is expected to result in about 15 to 20 agreements in the field of defence, nuclear energy, science and technology, space, customs among others.
(With agency inputs)
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