Watch: PM Modi welcomes Putin with warm hug; leaders travel in same car

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi connected Thursday personally received Russian President Vladimir Putin astatine Delhi’s Palam Airport, marking the commencement of his two-day authorities sojourn to India. PMModi greeted Putin with a handshake and lukewarm embrace, earlier some leaders near the airdrome unneurotic successful the aforesaid vehicle.

Putin’s accomplishment was met with a information grid comprising the Delhi Police, Special Protection Group (SPG), and Russian information officials. Flex boards and Russian flags lined the airdrome route, and precocious surveillance systems were activated crossed cardinal areas of the capital.

The 2 leaders volition co-chair the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit, wherever much than 10 inter-governmental agreements and implicit 15 commercialized MoUs are expected to beryllium signed.

Key absorption areas discussed by officials see commercialized expansion, healthcare, fertilisers, shipping, agriculture, connectivity and workforce mobility.

Ahead of Putin’s arrival, defence curate

Rajnath Singh

underlined that contempt planetary instability, India–Russia practice “is moving astatine a steadfast pace.” He welcomed advancement toward a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union and highlighted accordant subject exchanges betwixt the 2 sides.

Russian defence curate Andrei Belousov echoed the sentiment, describing relations with India arsenic a “time-proven friendship” based connected communal respect and taste affinity.

During the visit, Putin volition be a authorities banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu and is besides expected to motorboat the Indian variation of Russian broadcaster RT.

Putin’s archetypal engagement successful India is simply a backstage meal with PM Modi. The gathering is expected to screen the afloat spectrum of the “special and privileged strategical partnership,” ranging from defence and vigor information to commercialized and practice successful emerging sectors.

Discussions volition besides see planetary geopolitical issues, Eurasian developments and the Indo-Pacific.The meal sets the signifier for Friday’s structured acme talks.

Putin begins his Friday docket with a sojourn to Rajghat to wage homage to Mahatma Gandhi — a contented for visiting heads of state. He volition past person a ceremonial invited astatine Rashtrapati Bhavan, followed by ceremonial acme discussions with PM Modi astatine Hyderabad House.After a moving lunch, Putin volition code the India–Russia Business Forum aimed astatine boosting backstage assemblage partnerships and investments. The evening volition reason with a authorities banquet hosted by President Murmu, aft which Putin is expected to depart astir 9.30 pm.

A associated connection is expected, on with agreements crossed aggregate sectors. Among the cardinal outcomes is the Programme for the Development of Strategic Areas of Russian-Indian Economic Cooperation until 2030, seen arsenic a roadmap to heighten semipermanent concern and commercialized cooperation.Putin’s adjutant Yuri Ushakov confirmed that bilateral commercialized reached $63.6 cardinal successful 2024, a 12% emergence driven by energy, fertilisers and machinery. He besides listed precedence areas for collaboration: concern partnerships, innovative technologies, peaceful abstraction exploration, transport, mining, healthcare and labour mobility.Putin volition besides be the motorboat of Russian media transmission RT’s India operations — a awesome of Moscow’s increasing brushed powerfulness outreach.

Modi and Putin person spoken by telephone 5 times successful 2024 and past met successful idiosyncratic astatine the SCO Summit successful Tianjin. Despite shifting planetary alignments and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, the India–Russia concern continues to diversify, balancing bequest defence ties with caller practice successful technology, vigor transition, acquisition and workforce mobility.