Putin Calls India Reliable Partner, Slams "Detrimental" Western Interference

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed Moscow's strategic partnership with New Delhi and asserted that Western attempts to force India into scaling back its cooperation with Russia are futile and damaging to global stability.

In an interaction with heads of leading global news agencies including PTI, Putin lauded India's economic growth and its independent foreign policy and said Russia is determined to expand its economic engagement with the country.

"India is among the world's major economies and is currently demonstrating an impressive rate of economic growth," Putin remarked, expressing confidence that bilateral trade between the two nations is on track to hit a USD 100 billion milestone in the coming years.

"India is one of the leading economies of the world that has showed the highest rate of economic growth. This is not something that comes out of the blue. This is result of the hardwork that the government of India has been doing under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Putin said in responding to a question from PTI's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Vijay Joshi.

The Russian President emphasised that New Delhi will continue to prioritise its own national interests, adding that India's diplomatic engagement with the United States does not hinder or undermine its time-tested relationship with Russia.

"We are glad that India is developing its relations with all countries it thinks important for its national interests," Putin said when asked whether India's deep alignment with Washington creates structural friction for Russia.

At the same time the Russian president added that there have been Western attempts to put pressure on when it comes to cooperation with Russia.

"Everyone has understood that pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India is detrimental for international relations," he said.

The Russian president said Russia considers India as a "reliable partner" and it sees no negative consequences from New Delhi's bilateral relations with any other country.

"India is a great nation and democracy and Russia will continue to expand its relations with it," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)