Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi on Friday, ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit.
Modi presented Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, the ancient Tamil text, expressing confidence it would strengthen people-to-people connections between India and Russia.
The Thirukkural comprises 1,330 two-line couplets written by the poet-saint Thiruvalluvar roughly two thousand years ago, covering virtue, wealth and statecraft.
Discussions between the two leaders covered trade, industry, energy, mobility and critical resources, with a focus on industrial and business-to-business cooperation.
Putin’s Delhi visit comes as India hosts the BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13, drawing several world leaders to the capital.
The Thirukkural, attributed to the Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar, comprises 1,330 two-line couplets offering guidance on virtue, wealth and statecraft, written roughly two thousand years ago.
PM Modi said he was confident people-to-people contact between India and Russia would grow with the availability of the Thirukkural in Russian translation.
The bilateral discussions were expected to cover trade, industry, energy, mobility and critical resources, alongside deeper industrial cooperation.
Talks reportedly touched on plans related to INNOPROM participation in India, as well as collaboration in the rail sector and the steel value chain.
Business-to-business opportunities between Indian and Russian companies were also on the agenda during the wide-ranging talks.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, with several other world leaders also arriving in Delhi over the same period.
Security for the summit period has been tightened significantly across Delhi, with thousands of personnel deployed and airspace restrictions in effect.
India-Russia relations span decades of defence, energy and diplomatic cooperation, with the two countries holding regular bilateral summits.
The two leaders have met on multiple occasions in recent years, both at bilateral summits and on the sidelines of multilateral forums such as BRICS and the SCO.
PM Narendra Modi with President Vladimir Putin, PIB/Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
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