Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, calling him "a very wise man" under whom New Delhi has been making great strides in development.
At a keynote address in Sochi, the Kremlin leader slammed Western countries for creating a rift between India and Russia, saying that they will prove fruitless. He alleged that the West are trying to cast anyone "who is not ready to blindly follow these Western elites as the enemy".
"At a certain point in time, they tried to do the same with India. Now they are flirting, of course. We all understand this very well. We feel and see the situation in Asia. Everything is clear. I want to say that the Indian leadership is independent. It is led by the national interests. I think that those attempts make no sense. But, they continue. They are trying to cast Arabs as the enemy. They are trying to be careful, but overall, that's what it all boils down to," he said during his speech, further saying that such attempts of creating rifts between India and Russia are "pointless".
Asserting that India is acting independently in the interests of the country, Putin said that it is growing stronger under the leadership of PM Modi. "..India, more than 1.5 billion of population, more than 7 per cent of economic growth...that's a powerful country, mighty country. And it's growing stronger and stronger under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi..."
He also called for a reform of the United Nations Security Council and said that countries like India, Brazil and South Africa deserve more representation in the global bloc.
'A very wise man': Putin on PM Modi
Heaping praises on PM Modi, the Russian President said that India avoided the politicisation of the G20 Summit in New Delhi under its presidency and termed it as a success for the Indian authorities and the Prime Minister himself, according to RT News.
"We (Russia) share very good political relations with Prime Minister Modi, he is a very wise man. And India has been making very great strides in development under his leadership. This fully meets the interest of both India and Russia to work on this agenda," Putin said. He further expressed hope for further cooperation between Russia and India in the field of financial security and the fight against cybercrime.
"PM (Modi) managed to depoliticise the decisions that were made at the summit, and that was the only way to go, because the G20 was established as a platform to discuss economic matters, not political matters. And since politicisation of the G20 is the path to destroy it, the Indian authorities managed to avoid that,” he continued in his address.
At the G20 Summit held in New Delhi last month, India scored a major diplomatic win by achieving 100% consensus among world leaders on the joint leaders' declaration. The 83-paragraph New Delhi Declaration was adopted on the first day of the summit.
Notably, the Declaration called for peace in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, but avoided mentioning Russia's invasion last year, which was in sharp contrast with previous year's Bali Declaration. World leaders were polarised over the Russia-Ukraine war, with Western countries reportedly seeking to label Moscow as an aggressor.
Russia expressed satisfaction with the Declaration and termed it as a 'milestone'. It also praised India's G20 leadership for consolidating countries from the Global South.
Soon after the G20 Summit in September, Putin had praised PM Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative and said Russia can emulate the success stories of its partners like India in promoting the growth of its domestic industries.
"They are focused on the manufacture and use of Indian-made vehicles. I think that Prime Minister Modi is doing the right thing in promoting the Make in India programme. He is right," the Russian leader said. He further added that it is absolutely fine to use Russian-made automobiles.
(with ANI inputs)
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