Russian President Putin calls India “great power” and “one of largest growing economies”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again emphasised that India is a ‘natural ally’ and partner for decades, while highlighting the Soviet Union’s role in India’s independence.

Addressing the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin described India as a great country and added that Moscow and New Delhi were boosting cooperation in all areas, Russian state media reported.

“We are developing our ties with India in all directions. India is a great country. It is a leader in terms of economic growth among large economies, with its GDP posting an annual growth of 7.4 per cent,” Putin told the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, as per TASS news outlet.

“Our vision of where and at what pace our relations will develop is based on today’s realities. The volume of our cooperation is multiplying year after year,” Putin was cited by the news agency.

Putin recalled the Soviet Union’s role in India’s declaration of independence, which created “relations that are unique in terms of quality and degree of trust” between the two nations.

“This is a base for us to develop bilateral relations in all dimensions,” the Russian leader said.

Bilateral trade turnover is almost US 60 billion, Putin said.

India, the Russian President said, deserves being included in the list of global superpowers, “with its billion-and-a-half population, the fastest growth among all economies in the world, ancient culture and very good prospects for further growth.”

He further pointed out that contacts between India and Russia in the security sphere and the defence sphere are developing. “Look at how many types of Russian military equipment are in service with the Indian armed forces. There is a great degree of trust in this relationship. We don’t just sell our weapons to India; we are engaged in joint research design them jointly,” Putin said.

He pointed at BrahMos as an example of India-Russia joint cooperation. “The Brahmos systems are used in the air and in the sea and this partnership is something that people know about and this testifies to the high level of trust and the high level of our partnership it is going to continue in the future,” Putin said.

The BrahMos is named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers of India and Russia. It was formed as a joint venture between Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya.

Meanwhile, during Thursday’s event, Putin also touched upon the prospects of BRICS grouping which has both Russia and India as members and which the Russian leader said is a prototype of the modern, “free and non-bloc nature of relations between states and peoples.”

During the 16th BRICS summit held in October this year in Kazan, Russia unveiled a symbolic BRICS banknote.

In his address yesterday, Putin said that it is early to talk about creating a common currency. “We do not have such objectives in between because in order to talk about a certain common currency, firstly, greater integration of economies should be achieved and, secondly, the quality of economies should be somehow lifted to a certain level so that these are very similar economies, comparably by quality, by the structure,” Putin was cited as saying at the Sochi conference yesterday by TASS.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the BRICS Summit hosted by Russia last month.

PM Modi had also visited Russia in July for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit.

During the visit, President Vladimir Putin conferred Russia’s highest civilian honour the “Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle” on PM Modi for his contribution to the development of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries and friendly ties between the peoples of the two countries.

Russia has been a longstanding and time-tested partner for India.

During an event on November 5, Putin accepted the credentials of new foreign ambassadors in Moscow. In his speech, he commended Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and referred to India and Russia as “strategic partners.”