- By Kamal Kumar
- Fri, 08 Nov 2024 03:57 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
India deserves to be on the list of global superpowers, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed while addressing a gathering in Sochi on Thursday. Hailing India's economic growth, Putin said that India has very good prospects for future growth.
Highlighting Moscow's ever-strengthening ties with New Delhi, he said that Russia is developing relations with India in all directions, and there is a great degree of trust in bilateral ties, reported news agency PTI. Russian premier was speaking at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday.
"India should undoubtedly added to the list of superpowers, with its billion-and-a-half population, the fastest growth among all economies in the world, ancient culture and very good prospects for further growth," Putin said.
Putin's comments came days after PM Modi visited the country to attend the Kazan BRICS meet, a trip for the second time in a month.
'India A Great Country'
"We are developing relations with India in all directions. India is a great country, now the largest in terms of population: 1.5 billion people, plus 10 million every year. " He said India is leading the world in economic growth.
"Our vision of where and at what pace our relations will develop is based on today's realities. The volume of our cooperation is increasing many times over, every year," Putin was quoted by Russian news agency Tass as saying.
'Design Weapons Jointly'
Putin also emphasized the defence and security cooperation between the two countries.
"Look at how many types of Russian military equipment are in service with the Indian armed forces. There is a great degree of trust in this relationship. We don't just sell our weapons to India; we design them jointly," he said.
'We Made BrahMos Together'
"We made it [the missile] fit for use in three environments - in air, in sea and on land. These projects, conducted for the benefit of India's security, are ongoing," he said.
"This is widely known and no one has issues with that, but these projects demonstrate a high level of mutual trust and cooperation. So this what we will keep doing in the near term, and, I hope, will continue to do in the more distant future," he said.