As Russia lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow as “historic and game-changing,” the White House called on India to leverage its relationship with Russia to persuade President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.Russia’s Charge d’affaires Roman Babushkin on Wednesday called Modi’s two-day visit to Moscow and his summit talks with President Putin “historic and game-changing,” considering the turbulent geopolitical environment.Modi’s visit to Moscow was watched by the whole world and it was evident how significant the trip was, Babushkin said, a day after Modi and Putin held summit talks.The Russian diplomat said the focus of the talks between the two leaders was on expanding India-Russia trade and economic ties. Highlighting key outcomes of the summit talks, Babushkin said India and Russia decided to go ahead with a bilateral payment system using national currencies.On India’s demand to Russia to ensure the return of Indians working in the Russian Army, he said, “We are on same page with India on this issue.””We hope it will be resolved soon,” he said when asked when the Indians would return home.This comes after Russia agreed to India’s demand to ensure the early release and return to home of Indian nationals working in the Russian military as support staff after Modi raised the issue with Putin.Meanwhile, India and Russia inked nine MoUs and agreements on several areas, including trade, climate and research, during Modi’s two-day visit.Both nations also agreed to boost bilateral trade to over USD 100 billion by 2030 by reinvigorating investments, using national currencies for trade and increasing cooperation in sectors ranging from energy to agriculture and infrastructure.In the joint statement issued following the bilateral summit between Putin and Modi, the two sides reiterated their commitment to the development of the special and privileged strategic partnership and vowed to give additional impetus to the deepening of bilateral interaction by promoting Russia-India trade and economic cooperation.To facilitate a further increase in trade and joint investment projects between the Far East Region of Russia and India, the two countries inked a program of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres in the Russian Far East for the period from 2024 to 2029, as well as cooperation principles in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, according to the list of agreements and MoUs released by the Ministry of External Affairs.
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