MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed in a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the situation in Ukraine among other topics, the Kremlin press service said Friday.
“At Narendra Modi’s request, Vladimir Putin gave principal assessments in the context of Russia’s policy on the Ukrainian issue,” the statement said.
The Kremlin added that the leaders agreed to continue personal contacts
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Modi had allegedly refused to hold an annual meeting with the Russian president this year.
Peskov denied this information, explaining that such talks were not even on Putin’s schedule. The Kremlin spokesman also noted that next year’s contact schedule would be agreed upon.
According to the 2000 declaration on strategic partnership, the leaders of Russia and India meet annually, but in 2020, due to the pandemic, the summit could not be held. Putin paid a visit to New Delhi in December 2021. This year, Putin and Modi met separately during the September summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand.
The Hindu: Indian leader presses Putin to pursue diplomacy with Ukraine:
PM Modi calls for dialogue and diplomacy in call with Russian President Vladimir Putin
The phone call comes days after speculation began about PM Modi not travelling to Moscow for the annual summit with Russia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 16, 2022 held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and reiterated the requirement for “peace and diplomacy” over the crisis in Ukraine, stated a press release from the Government of India. The Russian side informed that the two leaders discussed multiple issues including “mutual investment” and areas like energy cooperation, agriculture, transport and logistics.
“Following up on their meeting on Samarkand on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, the two leaders reviewed several aspects of the bilateral relationship, including energy cooperation, trade and investments, defence and security cooperation and other key areas. In the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Prime Minister reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way forward,” stated a press note issued by the Government of India after the telephone conversation. A readout of the interaction given by the Russian side stated that President Putin gave “fundamental assessments of Russia’s line” at the war in Ukraine after being requested by Prime Minister Modi.
The phone call has come days after speculation began about Mr. Modi not travelling to Moscow for the annual summit with Russia. President Putin had visited Delhi on December 6, 2021 for the annual summit and it was the turn of Mr Modi to travel to Moscow. A diplomatic source said, “not a word” was discussed about the annual summit by the two leaders but the Russian President’s Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had said earlier that “no contacts” were planned this year.
India-Russia relation has received great deal of western attention in 2022 especially after Russia emerged as the topmost supplier of energy to India in the backdrop of the war in Ukraine that was started on February 24 with Russian missile attacks on Ukraine. The Russian readout however indicated that the cooperation in that direction is expected to strengthen in the coming months and said, “Having expressed satisfaction with the high level of bilateral cooperation developing on the principles of the Russian-Indian special and privileged strategic partnership, the leaders discussed in detail the prospects for practical interaction in such areas as mutual investment, energy, agriculture, transport and logistics.”