India reaches out to Russia with Modi's letter to Putin

New Delhi:External affairs minister S. Jaishankar Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin and handed over a personal communication from Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the two leaders' meetings in Bishkek and New Delhi in the coming few weeks and bilateral annual summit in Moscow later in the year.

In his opening remarks during his meeting with Putin at the Kremlin, Jaishankar said, "Let me begin by conveying the good wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has given me a personal communication which I would like to hand over to you."

Also read: PM Modi, Putin set to meet at SCO Summit; another meeting likely this year


"We had a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission," the minister said. "I think overall we have a good report to give to you. I think our economic cooperation, trade, energy, fertilisers, nuclear, and other dimensions as well, I'd be pleased to speak about them in detail."

"Overall, our economic cooperation has grown very significantly. PM Modi looks forward to meeting you at the SCO Summit, then welcoming you to India for the BRICS Summit, and, in due course, as per your mutual convenience, having the annual summit, so we have a very strong picture of cooperation to present," said Jaishankar.

In his opening remarks, Putin said, "Your visit today underscores the level of relations that has long been established between Russia and India, over decades."

"We continue to work together in virtually all areas...I know that you (EAM) and your Russian counterpart, Russian Deputy PM Manturov, who heads the Russian part of the intergovernmental commission, have already worked hard and have undoubtedly discussed the most important issues. There are many of them. One of these issues is not only energy - it is, of course, fertiliser supplies. We are doing everything to address this issue for Indian farmers, for agriculture; we are increasing these supplies and are ready to do so further."

Also read: Russian president Putin assures India of uninterrupted supply of energy, fertilisers

Earlier, Jaishankar held high-level talks to boost defence and economic ties in preparation for Putin's visit to India next month for the BRICS Summit and bilateral meeting with Modi and further boost bilateral cooperation amid heightened global geopolitical tensions. Putin and Modi will meet in Bishkek early next week on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.

Jaishankar discussed trade and defence cooperation in the Russian capital, where he and Russian first deputy prime minister Denis Manturov co-chaired the 27th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) Monday.