The Russian President drew on India’s fine example to encourage domestic products and brands in his own country through the ‘Make in India’ initiative. He heaped praise on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called him a “great friend of Russia” while also lauding his “Make in India” initiative during an event in Moscow, during his speech. He also highlighted how the initiative had a positive impact on the Indian economy.
“Our friends in India & Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a great friend of Russia, a few years ago presented a concept – ‘Make in India’. And it had a very visible effect on the Indian economy,” Putin told an audience.
Drawing the example of Make in India, Putin called for the creation of an economy that produces its own modern goods, services, and technology instead of consuming foreign, imported products.
He accused some foreign brands of “turning the exit from the Russian market into a PR campaign,” and expressed doubt that these PR strategies will be of any benefit to them.
This was one of the major public appearances of President Putin, days after a Russian mercenary group launched a short-lived armed rebellion against him. The rebellion by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner group on Saturday marked the most serious challenge to President Putin in more than two decades of his rule. On Wednesday, Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev briefed NSA Ajit Doval on the latest developments in the country following the rebellion.
Recently, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov in New Delhi has said that the “special Russia-India strategic partnership” has shown strength and is “growing stronger as ever”. “There have been lies about Russia on a daily basis and on a global scale. Efforts are being made to disrupt Russia – India relations,” Envoy Alipov said during the state reception hosted in the national capital that was dedicated to the National Day of the Russian Federation.
Lauding the ‘special Russia – India strategic partnership’, the envoy said, “The indispensable truth however is- the special Russia-India strategic partnership has shown strength and we keep growing stronger than ever”.
The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2014 and aimed to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in the country and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing.
With the largest population of over 1.4 billion people and the 5th largest GDP of around USD 3.7 trillion, India has in recent years emerged not only as an alternative destination for license manufacturing for global companies but also as a massive consumer market for foreign investors, a report said.
Putin and Modi last met on the sidelines of a regional security bloc summit in Uzbekistan in September 2022.
(With inputs from agencies)
