New Delhi, May 28: Asserting that both India and Russia stand for a multipolar world order, Russia's Ambassador to India Denis Alipov on Wednesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership while also praising New Delhi for identifying, tracking and punishing the culprits behind the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack which resulted in the death of 26 innocent civilians.

"I don't think there is anybody, anywhere in the world that doubts the credentials of Prime Minister Modi. His strong leadership is steering the country to global prominence. Both India and Russia stand for a multipolar world order without any global power or a group of countries dominating that order. They stand for an equal international relationship. This has been reinstated in the conversation President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Modi had on May 5," Alipov told IANS in an exclusive interview.

The Kremlin has confirmed that Putin is expected to visit India this year, following an invitation from Prime Minister Modi. The visit is being planned as part of the ongoing commitment to annual meetings between the two leaders.

The last visit by the Russian President to India took place on December 6, 2021, during the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, PM Modi has held two high-profile visits to Russia last year, attending the 22nd Russia-India Summit in July and later participated in the BRICS Summit held in Kazan in October.

Prime Minister Modi was also invited by Putin for participation in the Victory Day celebrations earlier this month, but Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth represented India in Moscow.

Ambassador Alipov stated that both sides are currently working on details about President Putin's visit to India.

"The interaction between the foreign ministers is very intense. There will be visits of Russian officials to India and there is going to be high-level visits of Indian officials to Russia, this year. The leaders will also meet and will have an extensive agenda for discussion, as we have always done because our relations are very diversified. The dates will be announced in due course by both sides as soon as we finalise the details," said Alipov.

Earlier this month, Putin had called Prime Minister Modi and "strongly condemned" the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, offering "full support" to India in its ongoing fight against terrorism.

Both leaders reiterated their commitment to further deepen India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership as Putin conveyed deepest condolences on the loss of innocent lives and expressed full support to India in the fight against terrorism. He emphasised that the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their supporters must be brought to justice.

"It was a heinous crime, an outrageous attack that happened on April 22 and it was widely condemned. The support of India was expressed by all Russia, including President Putin who responded immediately upon learning about the tragedy and sent a special message to Prime Minister Modi expressing our sympathies while stating that we expect that the culprits will be identified, tracked and punished. And, that was something that India eventually did," Ambassador Alipov told IANS.

"We have always stated that there cannot be any double standards on terrorism, be it a trans-border one or of any other kind. We have always stood by the side of each other on this. Last year, India also immediately expressed support for Russia after the big terror attack on one of the shopping malls in Moscow. We also coordinate with each other at the UN. Russia has supported a draft convention that India proposed to counter terrorism which needs to be adopted, as soon as possible," he said.

--IANS

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