Russia on the results of Prime Minister Modi and Putin talk

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Moscow and the results of his summit talks with President Vladimir Putin were “historic and revolutionary” considering the prevailing turbulent geopolitical environment, said Russia’s chargé d’affaires Roman Babushkin , on Wednesday.

The Russian diplomat said the focus of talks between the two leaders was on expanding India-Russia trade and economic ties.

On his first trip since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Modi paid a two-day visit to Moscow on July 8 and 9, during which he held summit talks with Putin.

“The leaders decided to strengthen cooperation in all areas. It is a historic and revolutionary move, especially given the turbulent environment that surrounds us,” Babushkin said at a press conference.

“The event had unprecedented coverage and presumably overshadowed all other events. It seemed like the entire world was watching,” he said.

Babushkin also criticized the US for making certain comments ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Moscow and described the comments as interference in ties between the two nations.

“It was the conduct of two independent global powers based on mutual trust and respect. External factors do not play much role when it comes to Russia-India relations,” he said.

India and Russia have established fundamental convergences in key areas of our cooperation, he said.

The senior diplomat said both sides pledged to expand cooperation in a number of key areas, including fossil fuels, nuclear energy and trade.

Highlighting the main results of the summit talks, Babushkin said that India and Russia have decided to move forward with a bilateral payments system using national currencies.

If you noticed, one of the most important points of the joint statement was that we decided to move forward with the establishment of a payment system within the scope of settlement in national currency, he said.

In Prime Minister Modi-Putin talks, the two sides set a target of $100 billion in annual trade volume by 2030 and promised to develop a robust bilateral payment settlement mechanism using national currencies.

On India’s demand to Russia to ensure the return of Indians working in the Russian army, he said, “We are on the same page as India on this issue.” We hope this will be resolved soon, he said, when the Indians return home.

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