Page 44 - RusRPTAug24

44 I Eastern Europe bne August 2024
Putin and Modi have met 16 times and enjoy a warm relationship. / bne IntelliNews
Modi spends a busy day doing deals with Russia
Ben Aris in Berlin
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent a busy day with his Russian counterparts negotiating energy and business deals and hobnobbing with Russia’s elite as India seeks to deepen an already friendly partnership with Russia to fuel its own rapid eco- nomic growth during the Russo-India summit in Moscow on July 9.
Modi is making a symbolic first foreign trip to Russia, following the recent elec- tion win for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party to deepen India’s ties with Russia, which has emerged as a major trade partner following the start of the war in Ukraine.
www.bne.eu
The official Russian-Indian negotia- tions will be held both in a narrow and in an expanded format. The parties will discuss not only bilateral cooperation, but also the international situation, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Topics on the agenda were energy security, the rupee-ruble exchange mechanisms, investment and trade as well as the general international geopolitical tensions.
Warming relations
India has become a core member of the expanded BRICS+ group, which is expected to take in more members at this October’s annual summit hosted
by Russia in Kazan. And India took the lead at last year’s G20 summit, which was also expanded with the inclusion of the African Union that contains all 55 countries in Africa.
Modi is emerging as a key player in the current East-West showdown, as Delhi is one of the few players that maintains cordial relations with all of Moscow, Beijing, Washington and Brussels.
Modi has met with Putin a total of 16 times since he took power, and relations between the two men are reportedly warm. Upon arrival in Moscow, Modi travelled in an Aurus to the residence