Modi looks forward to seeing Putin in India – top Russian senator
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his willingness to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin to India, the speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matvienko, told the media in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) hosted by India.
Matviyenko made the statement after a personal meeting with the Indian leader on Friday. “Mr. Modi said that he would be pleased to see Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] in India,” she said, describing the meeting as “short but very substantial.”
“Yesterday, we had the opportunity to have a very substantive conversation with Prime Minister Modi. We are grateful to him for this opportunity. He emphasized the active development of our cooperation in the energy sector, agriculture, military technology, and several other areas, confirming the interest in further deepening Russian-Indian relations,” Matviyenko said, according to TASS.
She conveyed Putin’s greetings and best wishes to the prime minister. Matviyenko also expressed Moscow’s interest in further deepening relations in various areas. Matviyenko noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expects that his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, will visit Moscow by the end of the year.
The senator is leading the Russian delegation at the Summit of the Heads of Parliament of the G20 States, hosted by New Delhi as a part of its G20 presidency which concludes in December.
Matviyenko also held talks with Jagdeep Dhankar, the vice president of India and chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, and with Om Birla, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house.
Speaking to the media, Birla said the development of partnership relations between the Russian and Indian parliamentarians will contribute to the development of bilateral ties.
“President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi have not just good and long-standing relations; these are deep relations based on trust. I hope that these relations will also advance parliamentary diplomacy,” he stated, noting that the two countries enjoy deep ties that emerged after India gained independence.
