Russian President Vladimir Putin. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a family photo ceremony prior to the BRICS Summit plenary session in Kazan, Russia.
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Terms of Reference (ToR) signed amid pressure from the U.S to reduce its economic ties with Russia. File
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New Delhi:

As Rajnath Singh and his top delegation of defence personnel continue their Russia visit, there are talks of a mega defence agreement between Moscow and New Delhi being in advanced stages. The deal – reportedly worth $4 billion will give a massive boost to India’s air defence infrastructure.

The equipment being discussed by both sides is the advanced ‘Voronezh’ series radar which is manufactured by Russia’s Almaz-Antey Corporation, which is a specialist organisation for manufacturing anti-aircraft missile systems and radars.

The Voronezh radar is a very-long-range early warning radar system with a range well over 8,000 kilometers. It is capable of identifying and tracking threats like ballistic missiles, fighter jets, and ICBMs. Should India acquire it, the advanced radar system will be able to detect any air threat from anywhere in China, South and Central Asia, and most of the Indian Ocean region.

The Voronezh radar can detect more than 500 objects simultaneously. While its overall range can go up to 10,000 kilometers, it’s vertical range exceeds 8,000 km and horizon range is over 6,000 km. Moscow claims that the Voronezh radar system can even track stealth aircraft. Due to its massive vertical range, it can provide complete data about ICBMs and situational awareness of near-Earth objects in space.

According to a report by Russia Today, talks between Moscow and New Delhi have been on for a while and last month, a team from Almaz-Antey even visited India to interact with possible offset partners who will be part of the project.

In another report by The Sunday Guardian, there is a push under the ‘Make in India’ initiative for at least 60 per cent of the radar system to be manufactured locally, for which offset partners are being sought in India.

Should the deal be finalised, the advanced radar system will likely be set up in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, and the designated location for it has also reportedly been surveyed. Chitradurga is already home to some of India’s most advanced and top secret defence and aerospace facilities.

The radar system, once acquired, will significantly improve India’s threat-detection and surveillance capabilities in Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It will also enhance India’s air defence infrastructure to fulfil its needs amid ever-growing regional and global challenges.

On day 2 of his visit today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov will co-chair a top-level meeting on military-technical cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow. India and Russia share a special, privileged, and strategic defence partnership.

Mr Singh will also take stock of the deliveries of the two remaining S-400 Triumph missile systems that New Delhi is yet to receive. India had signed a deal in 2018 for Russia to supply its advanced S-400 missile systems.
 

File picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Putin is set to visit India in early 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received an invitation to visit India from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the dates for his visit will be set in early 2025, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said.

While addressing a briefing, Mr. Ushakov stated that Mr. Putin and PM Modi have an agreement to hold meetings once a year and it is Russia’s turn this time, according to Russian Embassy in India.

The diplomat stated, “Our leaders have an agreement to hold meetings once a year. This time, it’s our turn.” He further said, “We received Mr. Modi’s invitation and we will certainly consider it positively.”

Mr. Ushakov noted, “We will figure out the tentative dates early next year.”

This will be Mr. Putin’s first visit to India since the beginning of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in 2022. India has always advocated “peace and diplomacy” for resolving conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Mr. Putin and Mr. Modi remain in regular contact, holding talks over phone-call once every couple of months, according to the Russian Embassy in India. The two leaders also hold in-person meetings. This year, the two leaders met twice as PM Modi in July travelled to Moscow to participate in the 22nd Russia-India summit.

Mr. Modi’s official visit to Russia in July marked his first bilateral visit after resuming office for the third time. He was also conferred with Russia’s highest national award “The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle” for his contribution to fostering India-Russia ties.

In October, PM Modi visited Russia’s Kazan for a two-day visit to attend the BRICS Summit. He thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and their government for their hospitality. PM Modi took to X to share glimpses of his visit to Russia.

Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya holds a meeting with trade union members on the proposed employment-linked incentive (ELI) scheme, on Wednesday (August 28, 2024).
| Photo Credit: ANI

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India, Russia sign working plan to handle emergencies

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin bids farewell to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi following their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The United States is disappointed about the symbolism and timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Russia visit at a time when it hosted the NATO summit here, a senior State Department official has told the lawmakers, who have expressed concerns over the increasing India-Russia ties.

“I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing here on Tuesday.

“I assure you may be if I could just take a moment to put into context that visit. Prime Minister Modi, two weeks before he went to Moscow, also saw President Zelenskyy on the margins of the G7 summit in Italy,” he said.

“Then we were looking very carefully at what Modi did when he was in Moscow. We did not see any new major defense deals. We saw no major discussion of technology cooperation. In addition, you have Modi having said in front of Putin on live television, his feeling that the war in Ukraine could not be won on the battlefield and the pain that he felt watching the death of children in war,” Mr. Lu said.

“A clear reference to the bombing of the children’s hospital in Kyiv that happened while he was there. I share your concern about this visit, sir, and we are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians. The Indians, who have cancelled billions of dollars in defense purchases over these last two and a half years because the Russians can’t deliver anymore. So we’re working very hard on that,” Mr. Lu said.

He was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a former co-chair of the Caucus of India and Indian Americans in this regard.

“I was shocked and saddened to see the embrace by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who I so respect and admire embrace war criminal Putin in Moscow on the very day that Mr. Putin intentionally launched missiles at the largest children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine,” he said.

“Prime Minister Modi is a hero of mine who I have visited in New Delhi, have welcomed twice to address Congress along with being present with Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina at Madison Square Garden and New York City. I was with President Donald Trump at the Howdy Modi welcome for Prime Minister Modi. 40,000 people there in Houston, Texas and it turned out it’s something I know. It was the largest assemblage of millionaires in the history of the world,” the Republican Congressman said.

“The Indian American community has been so successful. The future of India should be with democratic free markets as we have seen. Indian Americans have achieved the highest level of income of any immigrant group in the United States. In fact, Indian Americans make twice the income of the average American and indeed it’s due to association with democracy, not dictatorship and the dictatorship that world criminal Putin is trying to restore the failed Soviet Union and he wants to oppress first the people of Russia,” Mr. Wilson said.

“It’s to the benefit not of the people of Russia, but to the oligarchs just as the communist regime was to benefit the ranking members of the Communist Party. With that in mind, India should be a beacon for democracy and not dependent on a dictatorship. What can be done, to promote India not being dependent on inferior Russian weapons and cheap commodities? And we know that the gas that’s being purchased, the funding of that is going to kill Ukrainians,” he added.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

India will continue to be a strategic partner for the U.S. despite concerns over its ties with Russia, the Biden Administration has said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Russia for two days for the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that has been watched closely by the West amidst the raging Ukraine conflict.

During his talks with Mr. Putin on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi told President Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets.

On Tuesday, spokespersons of the Pentagon and the State Department reacted separately to questions on India’s relationship with Russia and Modi’s visit to Moscow.

“India and Russia have had a relationship for a very long time. From a US perspective, India is a strategic partner with whom we continue to engage in full and frank dialogue to include their relationship with Russia. As it relates to the NATO summit being this week, of course, like you, the world is focused on that,” Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters at a news conference.

On the other hand, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference that the US has been quite clear about its “concerns about India’s relationship with Russia.” “We have expressed those privately directly to the Indian government, and continue to do so. And that has not changed,” Miller told reporters at his daily news conference.

India has been stoutly defending its “special and privileged strategic partnership” with Russia and maintained the momentum in the ties notwithstanding the Ukraine conflict.

India has not yet condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has consistently pitched for a resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

Mr. Ryder said: “I do not think anybody will be surprised if (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin tries to represent this visit in a way that seeks to somehow show that he is not isolated from the rest of the world. And the fact of the matter is President Putin’s war of choice has isolated Russia from the rest of the world, and it has come at great cost.

Their war of aggression has come at great cost, and the facts bear that out,” he said.

“So we will continue to view India as a strategic partner. We will continue to have a robust dialogue with them,” Ryder said.

“He [Putin] is not looking so isolated with the head of the world’s largest democracy being in Moscow, embracing him right now,” a reporter asked.

Mr. Ryder responded by saying that Prime Minister Modi also met recently with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and offered his assurances that India will continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine.

“I think that we trust that India will support efforts to realise an enduring and just peace for Ukraine and will convey to Mr Putin the importance of adhering to the UN charter and the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.

Miller said the US continues to “urge India to support efforts to realise an enduring and just peace in Ukraine, based on the principles of the UN charter based on upholding Ukraine’s territorial integrity and its sovereignty. And that will continue to be what we will engage with India about.

Moscow:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made a wholehearted endorsement of India’s ties with Russia, describing the old ally as India’s “all-weather friend” and lauding President Vladimir Putin for strengthening the bilateral relations over the past two decades of his leadership.

Addressing the Indian diaspora, he said the India-Russia relationship is built on the strong pillar of mutual trust and respect, asserting that their ties were tested time and again only to emerge stronger every time.

PM Modi’s high praise of Russia as an ally and President Putin’s leadership came amid ongoing efforts by the Western world to isolate the Russian leader over the war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Modi also made a veiled criticism of the “influence-oriented global order” which endured for decades.

“But, what the world needs right now is confluence not influence and no one can deliver this message better than India which has a strong tradition of worshipping confluences,” he said.

He said India is being seen as a strong pillar in the “emerging multi-polar world order”.

“When it speaks of peace, dialogue and diplomacy, then the whole world listens.” PM Modi has often stressed the need for dialogue and diplomacy to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Commenting on India’s ties with Russia, he said he has been for decades an admirer of the unique partnership between the two countries.

“On hearing the word Russia, the first word that comes to the mind of every Indian is India’s ‘sukh-dukh ka saathi’ (all-weather friend) and a trusted ally,” he said.

“No matter how low the temperature dips below zero degrees during Russian winter, India-Russia friendship has always remained in ‘plus’ and been full of warmth. This relationship is built on the strong foundation of mutual trust and mutual respect,” PM Modi said.

He said he had a special appreciation for “his friend” President Putin for steering the India-Russia friendship to greater heights over the last two decades.

As prime minister, he said it was his sixth visit to Russia and the two leaders have met 17 times during this period.

“All these meetings have added to our mutual trust and respect,” he said, praising Putin for helping the evacuation of Indian students during the war. He expressed gratitude to the Russian leader and Russian citizens for this.

To the applause from the audience, he announced that India will open two new consulates in Russia to boost travel and trade between the two countries.

Recalling the celebrated Hindi song ‘Sar pe lal topi Rusi, phir bhi dil hai Hindustani’ picturised on Raj Kapoor, he said it may be an old number but its sentiments remain evergreen.

He also mentioned Mithun Chakraborty, another Indian actor who earned a big following in Russia, as he spoke about the deep cultural ties between the two countries.

PM Modi said India was undergoing a transformation and the pace of development over the past 10 years has taken the world by surprise. Even the world now acknowledges what he used to say during his poll campaign that the 21st century belongs to India, he added.

The fast pace of India’s development will write a “new chapter” in the world’s progress, he said.

He said India was changing as it believes in the strength of its 140 crore citizens who are now dreaming of turning their resolve of ‘Viksit Bharat’ into reality.

“Today’s India is brimming with self-confidence, unlike the situation before 2014 when the country was sunk in despair, and this is our biggest capital,” PM Modi said.

In this context, he mentioned India’s win in the T20 World Cup and added that India’s teams in different sports were giving a historic performance.

“The youth India of today does not concede defeat till the last ball and the last moment,” he said, adding that the country is sending a strong team for the Paris Olympics and its athletes will show their mettle.

“When people like you bless us, even the biggest goals can be achieved. You all know that today’s India achieves whatever goal it sets its mind to,” he said.

He said it was in his DNA to challenge all the challenges and India will write a new chapter of global growth in coming years.

PM Modi said it was exactly a month ago that he took oath as prime minister for the third consecutive term when he had made the resolve to work at thrice the strength and speed to fulfil the aspirations of the country.

“Our government envisions making India the world’s third-largest economy, build three crore homes for the poor and turn three crore poor women in villages to ‘lakhpati didi’,” the prime minister said amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ and ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’.

He said India was the country which sent Chandrayaan to a place on the moon where no country has gone before and has given the work the most reliable model for digital transactions.

“India’s development of the past 10 years was just a trailer, we will see much faster growth in the next 10 years,” PM Modi asserted.

The Indian diaspora takes pride in the country’s achievements, he added.
 

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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin embrace during an informal meeting at Novo-Ogaryovo residence, outside Moscow, Russia, on July 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States has raised concerns with India about its relationship with Russia amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters on Monday in response to questions about a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

India has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine. New Delhi has thus far resisted that pressure, citing its longstanding ties with Russia and its economic needs.

ALSO READ: PM Modi in Russia LIVE updates

Mr. Modi met Mr. Putin in Russia on Monday in the Prime Minister’s first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In a post on social media platform X, the Prime Minister said his talks with Mr. Putin “will surely go a long way in further cementing the bonds of friendship” between the two countries.

“I will look to Prime Minister Modi’s public remarks to see what he talked about but as I said, we have made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia,” a State Department spokesperson said in a press briefing.

“And so we would hope (that) India and any other country when they engage with Russia would make clear that Russia should respect the U.N. Charter, should respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

ALSO READ: PM Modi’s Moscow visit: Five areas to watch closely

Russia has been India’s largest weapons supplier since the Soviet Union days. However, India has also been seeking other options, as the Ukraine war hobbled Russia’s ability to supply munitions and spares.

Washington in recent years has looked to woo New Delhi, with political analysts saying the U.S. sees India as a counter to China in the Asia-Pacific.

While the West has tried to isolate Putin, China, India and powers in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have continued to build ties.