NEW DELHI, May 8. /TASS/. Close friendly relations between India and Russia will remain during President Putin’s new term as well though New Delhi will have to take Moscow’s close ties with Beijing into consideration, The Financial Express newspaper wrote citing Indian experts.
"India and Russia have shared and enjoyed a privileged and strategic partnership for decades and it has only grown under the Putin regime. India has been arguably closer to Russia and the nations enjoy not only great economic and political relations but also people to people contact. Russia is also one of the largest suppliers of military equipment to India," Aparaajita Pandey, Ph.D. from the Centre for Latin American Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told the publication.
She added though that the active development of ties between Russia and China makes determination of the course of Russian-Indian partnership more difficult. "It would be more or less accurate to speculate that India and Russia would continue to enjoy a close relationship, although India would have to navigate and maneuver through the growing closeness between Kremlin and Beijing," the expert said.
Putin "has personally invested in nurturing bilateral relationship since 2000 when he became President for the first time," diplomat Anil Trigunayat who worked as ambassador in a number of countries and as deputy ambassador in Russia, said. "He has often praised India and PM Modi’s policies. There is an excellent chemistry between the two leaders. This year Russia is chairing BRICS and India has fully supported it. I think the relationship with Russia will continue to deepen despite global and regional challenges. Special and privileged strategic partnership is there to stay," Trigunayat told the paper.
Putin took office as president of Russia for the fifth time on May 7. He won the election that was held from March 15 to 17, garnering an 87.28% of the vote.