• Source:JND
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Putin India Visit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who received Russian President Vladimir Putin at New Delhi's Palam airport on Thursday with a hug and accorded him a warm welcome to India after a gap of four years, shared pictures with the Prez on X, saying he was pleased to welcome his 'friend'.

"I am pleased to welcome my friend—President Putin—to Delhi. I look forward to our meetings this evening and tomorrow. The friendship between India and Russia has been tested by time; it has brought immense benefits to our peoples. @KremlinRussia_E," PM Modi wrote in Russian language on X.

 Meanwhile, Putin's nearly 27-hour visit to India is seen as a crucial effort to further shore up India-Russia's time-tested friendship of nearly eight decades that remained on a firm footing notwithstanding a fractious geopolitical atmosphere. In reflection of the importance India attached to the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Putin at New Delhi's Palam airport with a hug.

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The two leaders left the airport in the same car, nearly three months after they travelled together on a vehicle in the Chinese city of Tianjin following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

PM Modi To Host Dinner At PM House

PM Modi hosted a private dinner for Putin this evening, in a reciprocal gesture to the hospitality extended to the Indian prime minister by the Russian leader during his visit to Moscow in July last year.

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The conversation between the two leaders this evening is expected to set the tone for the 23rd India-Russia summit talks on Friday that is expected to produce a number of key outcomes.

Boosting defence ties, insulating India-Russia trade from external pressure and exploring cooperation in small modular reactors are set to be the focus of the summit meeting between the two leaders that is expected to be closely watched by Western capitals.

The Russian leader's visit to New Delhi has assumed greater significance as it is taking place against the backdrop of rapid downturn in India-US relations. Following the summit, the two sides are expected to seal several agreements including in areas of trade.

(With PTI inptus)

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