‘Old. Serious. Strong’: Shashi Tharoor on India-Russia ties ahead of Putin’s visit

New Delhi : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday stressed upon the importance of India’s relationship with Russia, ahead of the much-anticipated visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to media outside the Parliament on the Putin’s upcoming visit, Tharoor said, “It is a very important visit. It’s an extremely important relationship. We talk for a long time about strategic autonomy; we have to preserve our negotiating space with America, China, Russia.”
Stating that India has independent ties with other countries, he added, “We cannot mortgage our autonomy to any other country’s interest. We have to have independent relationships with all countries. Russia is an old relationship, it is a serious relationship, strong relationship.”
President Putin will be visiting India from December 4-5 for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking at an investment forum in Moscow on Tuesday, Putin said that the objective of the numerous joint projects in energy, industry, space, agriculture, and other sectors is to elevate the ties with Beijing and New Delhi.
“We aim to elevate cooperation with the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India to a qualitatively new level by strengthening its technological component. This is the objective of numerous joint projects in energy, industry, space, agriculture, and other sectors,” he said.
Earlier, Kremlin Spokesperson Dimitry Peskov said that the sale of additional S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missiles could be on the agenda during the visit.
“Highly on the agenda, and this could be discussed. Our military industry is working pretty well. Russian arms 36 % in Indian armed forces and hopefully will continue,” Peskov said.
Russia also hopes to discuss the possibility of India acquiring the Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter.
“SU-57 is the best plane in the world. SU57 will be on the agenda,” said Peskov.
“As far as our cooperation in the defence industry goes, let’s remember the famous Brahmos missiles. It’s not only just production or it’s not only acts of buying or selling, it’s also the exchange of high technologies, and it really paves the way for a bright future in this field of cooperation. We’re developing quite, quite a variety of very complicated systems. And in this sense, of course, we have capabilities. We are ready to share this with our Indian friends, our experience,” he added.
Kremlin Spokesperson Peskov also said that there was the possibility of an agreement on Nuclear energy between India and Russia during the President’s visit.