NEW DELHI, December 6. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lasted for 3.5 hours.

The two men discussed bilateral relations, including joint efforts within the G20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the struggle with terrorism and Afghanistan.

Before the meeting, Putin said that Russia saw India as a great power with a friendly people and thanked Modi for his invitation. The Russian president spoke highly of bilateral cooperation in the economy, investment, energy, high, technology, space and other spheres. Putin stressed Russia’s intention to develop military cooperation with India.

For his part, Modi said that the pandemic had failed to slow down the pace of bilateral relations. He spoke highly of the efforts being exerted by Russia and India to resist the coronavirus infection, be it the testing of vaccines, their production or humanitarian assistance.

It was the first Putin-Modi meeting since 2019. The previous one took place in September 2019 when the Indian prime minister visited Vladivostok. A short while later, in November 2019 the two leaders met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brasilia.