Moscow, Nov 8: Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again showered praise on India's rapid rise under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting it is high time that Russia's "natural partner and ally for decades" is included among the "great powers" of the world.

"India should certainly be included among the great powers: one and a half billion people, the highest rates of economic growth among large economies, an ancient culture, and so on. And the prospects, very good prospects for growth," Putin said in the plenary session of the 21st annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club held in the southern Russian city of Sochi, on Thursday.

The Russian President, who has emphasised in the past that the process of forming a multipolar world is underway, went on to say that he has great respect for PM Modi's 'Make in India' initiative.

"India is a great country, the largest in population now - 1.5 billion people, plus 10 million annually. It is developing rapidly. It is the leader in economic growth among large economies. How much is it? I think 7.4 percent GDP growth per year...

"And India is one of those countries whose development rates will be faster than even the successfully developing economies of today. Therefore, our vision of what, how and where, in what areas and at what rates our relations should develop is based on the realities of today. And the realities are such that the volume of our cooperation increases many times over," he stated.

Citing the steady trend from the first nine months of 2024, Putin highlighted that Russia's trade turnover with India is increasing annually.

"We are developing relations with India in all areas... This also concerns the economy – it is developing at a good pace, and also in different areas. There's energy. By the way, we are ready: in addition to oil supplies, supplies to the Indian market have increased many times over, this concerns the possibility of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) supplies. We are actively working in the field of nuclear energy and are building nuclear power plants in India. We have great respect for the idea of Prime Minister Modi 'Make in India', for his call 'Make in India' and are ready to invest," he mentioned.

"In the same energy sector, one of the largest foreign investments – 20 billion dollars – is a Russian investment. And we are ready to further develop this in the same vein. Now, of course, we must think about new technologies. We are thinking about this and will move in this direction. At the last meeting, Mr. Prime Minister (PM Modi) drew attention to the fact that Indian agricultural producers have an urgent need to increase the quantity and volume of fertilizer supplies. We have done this and are ready to increase it, keeping in mind the needs of Indian agriculture. There are other areas, too, many of them," Putin added.

The Russian President thanked Prime Minister Modi, expressing "great respect and gratitude" for his ideas on resolving the Ukraine conflict.

"We are, without a doubt, not only grateful to the Prime Minister (Modi) for his attention to these problems, but also for his proposals, and for what and how he does in this regard. But in general, I think that relations with India have been developing at a high rate, and we have every reason to believe that, based on what has been achieved so far, we will move even faster than today," he said.

Putin then detailed the annual gathering about Russia's growing cooperation with India in the defence and security sphere.

"Look at how much Russian equipment is in service with the Indian army. We are developing here, indeed, with a certain level, a high level of trust together. We do not simply sell our weapons to India, but we are engaged in development together. The BrahMos system is well known. We have made it practically usable in three areas: in the air, 'marinized' and on land. And these developments in the interests of ensuring India's security continue. This is well known to everyone, does not cause any questions or irritation in anyone, but testifies to the high level of our trust and cooperation".

He also hailed the longstanding and time-tested India-Russia relationship.

"I think everyone knows very well what role the Soviet Union and Russia played in India gaining its independence, how we supported the Indian people for decades. During this time, we have developed unique relations with the Indian people in terms of their quality and level of trust, I will say this frankly in this context. As far as we understand, as far as we feel, and on the part of our Indian friends, such a national consensus exists regarding the development of relations with Russia, with our country," Putin remarked.

--IANS

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