Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and later lauded the fuel agreement between the two countries, saying it had helped bring stability to the global market. Emphasising long-standing India-Russia ties, PM Modi said that he met President Putin 17 times in the last 10 years.
Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia in the wake Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in 2022. India has continued to purchase oil from Russia in ‘national interest’ to keep domestic prices stable.
“There was a great challenge of fuel before the world. At a time like this, with your cooperation, we were able to save the common public from difficulties pertaining to petrol-diesel. Not only this, the world will have to accept that the agreement regarding fuel between India and Russia, indirectly gave market stability in the world,” he said.
PM Modi thanked President Putin for praising ‘Make in India’ initiative and helping in expanding manufacturing opportunities in India. “As a friend, you have praised our ‘Make in India’ initiative at multiple forums…you have also taken steps to promote manufacturing in India. This has created new opportunities for youth and opened new arenas of development,” he added.
The Prime Minister also emphasised that the cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow didn’t let farmers face the crisis of fertilisers. “The last five years were very concerning, challenging for the entire world, and all of humankind. We had to go through several problems. First, due to COVID and later the era of conflicts and tensions in various parts caused several issues for humankind,” PM Modi said.
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“Even in such a situation, when the world was facing a food-fuel-fertiliser crisis, due to India-Russia friendship and cooperation, we did not let the farmers of our country face a crisis of fertiliser…Our friendship has played a huge role towards this. We are committed to the interest of farmers. In the days to come, we would want our cooperation with Russia to further advance in the interest of farmers,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi recalled the age-long India-Russia ties and noted that his visit to Russia is being closely watched by the world. “I have had ties with Russia as well as you (Putin) since the past two-decades-and-half decades. In about 10 years, we have met 17 times. In the last 25 years, we have had around 22 bilateral meetings. This reflects the depth of our relations,” PM Modi said.
“The bilateral dialogue between our two nations happens every year. We have met 22 times. But this meeting is such that the world is focused on it, and drawing meanings out of every element of this meeting,” he added.
He also appreciated discussions with President Putin regarding the Ukraine conflict. “I am happy that we were able to openly lay our thoughts on the Ukraine issue, were able to discuss it and tried to understand each other’s opinion with due respect,” PM Modi said.
“India is ready to provide all necessary support in achieving peace. I am happy to hear your positive thoughts…I would like to assure you as well the world that India is on the side of peace. A hope has emerged in me after listening to President Putin. I thank you a lot for this,” he added.
