New Delhi [India], December 5 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday warmly received Russian President Vladimir Putin at Hyderabad House in New Delhi ahead of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, underscoring the deep and longstanding partnership between the two nations.
Putin is on his first visit to India in four years for a two-day State visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi.
Earlier, the Russian President paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in the national capital, following his ceremonial welcome and a tri-services guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He laid a wreath, paid floral tributes at the memorial, and signed the visitors’ book. The Russian President was accompanied to the memorial by Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh.
Prior to his Rajghat visit, Putin was welcomed by President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he received the ceremonial tri-services guard of honour as the forecourt echoed with the Indian and Russian national anthems. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Delhi LG V.K. Saxena, CDS General Anil Chauhan and other dignitaries attended the ceremony. President Murmu and President Putin introduced each other’s delegations. Among the Russian dignitaries were Defence Minister Andrey Belousov and Kremlin aide Dmitry Peskov.
Four years after their last in-person interaction on Indian soil, Prime Minister Modi and President Putin were set to hold bilateral talks in the national capital. Since their last meeting in December 2021, Putin arrived in the capital on Thursday and PM Modi broke with protocol to greet him on the tarmac at Palam Airport with a hug.
PM Modi, in a post on X, said the “friendship” between the two leaders is a “time-tested one” and he was delighted to welcome Putin back to India after four years. Both leaders shared a car ride to the Lok Kalyan Marg residence of the Prime Minister, where Putin was gifted a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. (ANI)
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