Modi, Putin wish each other electoral success, discuss BRICS, Ukraine, review ties

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin wished each other success in the presidential elections in Russia and the parliamentary elections in India, as the two leaders had the first phone call of the year on Monday.

They expressed interest in further intensifying mutually beneficial bilateral ties and wished each other success in the upcoming elections – presidential in Russia and parliamentary in India, according to a statement released from the Kremlin in Moscow after the phone call between the two leaders.

Modi will lead the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the parliamentary polls, which will take place in India in April-May this year. He took over as the prime minister in May 2014 and will now seek a straight third term in office.

Putin, on the other hand, has been at the helm of the Russian Government since 1999 either as the Prime Minister or as the President. He will seek another term in office and contest the presidential elections, which will be held from March 15 to 17, with Nikolay Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky and Vladislav Davankov being the other candidates.

Modi and Putin discussed the forthcoming summit of the BRICS, which would be hosted by the Russian President at Kazan in the former Soviet Union nation later this year.

The BRICS – hitherto a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – expanded itself with Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joining it on January 1 this year.

Though the BRICS leaders had also approved the membership of Argentina during the last summit in Johannesburg in August 2023, the new government of the Latin American nation decided not to join the bloc.

Russia took over the presidency of the BRICS from South Africa on January 1.

Modi on Monday assured Putin of New Delhi’s full support to Russia’s presidency of the BRICS.

A spokesperson of the Russian Government said in Moscow that the two leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine.

Ever since Russia in February 2022 launched its “special military operations” in Ukraine, New Delhi refrained from joining the United States and the rest of the West in condemning Moscow – ostensibly due to India’s decades-old strategic partnership with and its dependence on the former Soviet Union nation for military hardware.

India has also been circumventing sanctions imposed by the US and other western nations on Russia and continuing bilateral trade. It has also increased oil and coal imports from Russia.

Modi, however, told Putin in Samarkand in September 2022 that it was not an era of war, and the Moscow-Kyiv conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

“They positively assessed the developments in bilateral relations and agreed to develop a roadmap for future initiatives to further strengthen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership,” the office of the Prime Minister stated in a press release issued in New Delhi after the phone call on Monday.

They reviewed the bilateral cooperation in trade, economic development, science and technology, energy, transport and logistics, according to the press release issued by the Kremlin.