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Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned home after an "extremely productive" informal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Monday. The two leaders reviewed the complete range of India-Russia relations as well as global issues and underlined the need for a multi-polar world during their first ever informal summit in this Black Sea coastal city.
Addressing the media at the meet, Modi said that the two had discussed the operationalisation of the International North South Transport Corridor, as well as BRICS.
Modi also thanked Putin for Russia’s push to get India permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Delhi on Tuesday, 22 May, from Russia's Sochi after an informal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
PM Modi departed for India from Sochi on the night of Monday, 12 May.
Russian President Valdimir Putin accompanied him to the airport, where the two leaders held a small discussion Modi’s departure, concluding his one-day informal summit with the Russian President.
The negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and India are scheduled for autumn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today after an informal summit between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
Prime Minister Modi and President Putin had productive discussions during their first ever informal summit in this Black Sea coastal city and the two leaders paid special attention to the economic talks.
During the talks, the two sides noted with satisfaction the completion of formalities in the contacts between the two sides, he said.
PM Modi addressed a gathering of students from Sirius Educational Centre after his yacht ride with President Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin today took a yacht ride from Bocharev Creek to Olympic Park in Russia's Sochi after their informal summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated President Vladimir Putin and Russia for playing host to the FIFA World Cup 2018 beginning next month and hoped for the successful organisation of the sporting extravaganza.
The 2018 men's FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia from 14 June to 15 July. A total of 64 matches will be played by 32 teams in 12 venues located in 11 cities.
The final will be held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
India and Russia’s military technical cooperation involves joint research, development, and production of advanced defence technologies and systems.
The Programme for Military Technical Co-operation guides India and Russia’s defence co-operation.
PM Modi is scheduled to visit the Moya-Russia Ethno Centre in Sochi in some time, ANI reported.
The official account of India’s Public Diplomacy, Ministry of External Affairs shared a description of the framework and institutionalized dialogue mechanisms laid down to ensure India and Russia’s strategic partnership functions smoothly.
PM Modi thanked Russia for playing a major role in helping India get a permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) – an eight nation bloc which aims at military and economic cooperation between the member states. India and Pakistan were admitted last year into the organisation.
"We are working together on International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and BRICS," PM Modi said, ANI reported.
Welcoming Prime Minister Modi to Sochi, Putin said his visit would give a fresh impetus to bilateral ties.
He said Russia and India have been cooperating on several fronts in the multilateral and the international fora. He also mentioned military-to-military cooperation between the two countries.
In his opening remarks, PM Modi said India and Russia have been friends for a long time and thanked President Putin for inviting him for the first-ever informal meeting at Sochi.
He said the seeds of the 'strategic partnership' sown by then Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Putin has now grown into a "special privileged strategic partnership" between the two countries.
The Prime Minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin began their informal summit, a live telecast event, in Sochi.
Given the current international political scenario, an attempt to arrest the divergence between India and Russia and revive a flagging bilateral relationship through an informal meet makes eminent sense.
Read the full story here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Russia's Sochi for an informal summit with President Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Russia's Sochi for an informal summit with President Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 20 May, expressed hope that his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin would further strengthen the “special and privileged” strategic partnership between India and Russia.
In a series of tweets first in Russian and then in English on the eve of his visit to Russia, he said, “ I am confident the talks with President Putin will further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.”
PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will primarily focus on pressing global and regional issues, including impact of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, during their informal summit in Sochi on Monday, 21 May.
They said the issues on the table may include economic impact on India and Russia in the wake of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, situation in Afghanistan and Syria, threat of terrorism, and matters relating to the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS summits.
The two world leaders are also likely to discuss possible impact of the US sanctions against Russia under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on Indo-Russia defence cooperation might also figure during the talks between Modi and Putin.
India is not going to allow its defence engagement with Russia to be dictated by any other country, the sources have said, adding New Delhi has been lobbying with the Trump administration on the issue.
The two leaders may also deliberate on extending Indo-Russia civil nuclear cooperation to third countries, possible areas for cooperation for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, India's engagement with five-nation Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the situation in the Korean peninsula.
The sources said the large part of the informal meeting between Modi and Putin would be one-to-one and there might be limited segment for restricted delegation-level discussions.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
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