SOCHI, May 21. /TASS/. Russia and India maintain a high strategic level of partnership, with close cooperation between the two countries’ defense ministries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Our Defense Ministries maintain very close contacts and cooperation. It speaks about a very high strategic level of our partnership," Putin said, also hailing joint activities of the two countries in the area of foreign politics, in particular within the United Nations, BRICS (an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).