In a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia next year. “We will be glad to see our friend, Mr Prime Minister Modi in Russia,” Putin told Jaishankar.
“We will be able to discuss all current issues, talk about the outlook for the development of Russian-Indian relations. We have a very large amount of work to do,” the Russian President further said. He asked the Indian external affairs minister to pass his “best wishes” to PM Modi along with the invitation.
Putin also mentioned that India will be very busy with internal affairs next year due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, according to TASS news agency. Russia is also bracing for a presidential election, in which Putin is all but set to return as the leader.
The two leaders share cordial relations with each other and Putin has expressed his appreciation of PM Modi several times in the past. Earlier this month, Putin said that he was “surprised” by PM Modi’s tough stance on defending the national security interests of India and he “cannot imagine that Modi could be frightened” to take any step contrary to the interests of India and its people.
This is a developing story…