Russian President Putin terms ties with India special
Praises PM Modi for pursuing 'independent foreign policy'
Moscow (PTI): Russia has special ties with India and they have always supported each other and will remain so in the future, President Vladimir Putin has said, as he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for pursuing an "independent foreign policy" in the interest of his country.
Putin's remarks came at a plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, a Moscow-based think-tank on Thursday.
He said Russia and India continue to cooperate in the military and technical areas.
We have special ties with India that are built on the foundation of really close allied relations for decades. We never had any outstanding issues with India, we have always supported each other and I'm positive that's how it will remain in the future as well, Russian state media RT quoted Putin as saying.
Putin's comments came more than a month after Prime Minister Modi told him that today's era is not of war as they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September.
India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
"PM Modi is one of those individuals in the world who is able to pursue an independent foreign policy in the interest of his country, and his people without any attempts to stop him, said Putin.
Russia has been a major supplier of military hardware to India. In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Putin said India has walked a great development path from being a British colony to its modern state and this has yielded significant results for the country's almost 1.5 billion people.
"It (India) attracts general respect from everyone in the world. A lot has been done in recent years under PM Modi's leadership. He is a true patriot of his country. And this concept of his, Make in India', is a significant effort. (India) really has progressed in its development. A great future lies ahead of it, Putin said, according to a translation of his remarks by the Russian Embassy in India.
(India) is not only the largest democracy, in a good sense of this word, but it should be proud of its growth rate, that's the basis of its progress and development, Putin added.
The Russian leader said that the economic cooperation between Delhi and Moscow is growing as well.
Prime Minister Modi asked me to increase fertiliser supplies which is crucial for Indian agriculture and we have done that, he said, adding that the supplies have been increased 7.6 times without giving details.
Putin said he believes that countries such as India not only have a great future ahead of them, but are going to have a growing role in forming global policies.
His comments came ahead of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit to Moscow on November 8.
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Prague (PTI): World champion D Gukesh survived some anxious moments in the early middle game before finally drawing with Hans Moke Niemann of the United States in the first round of the masters section of the Prague International Chess Festival here.
The Berlin defense that went wrong for white could be a perfect heading for the encounter between the world champion and Niemann, who is walking his way to the elite chess circles after being indirectly accused of foul play.
It may be recalled that the American infamously won a game against world number one Magnus Carlsen, which will now be documented in a forthcoming Netflix series.
ALSO READ: Cheating made bigger than it actually is: Gukesh
Niemann came all guns blazing and sacrificed a piece with black piece as early as on move 13 to put Gukesh on the back foot despite having the white pieces.
The Indian was down but not out which he proved as the game progressed, and even though, black seemed like pushing for more with his extra pawns in exchange for the sacrificed knight, Gukesh ensured that he stayed in the game.
The eventual outcome was a draw, the lone one in the 10-player, nine round tournament that saw everyone with white pieces triumph in contrasting styles.
Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram of India turned out to be on the wrong side of a position against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
The Philidor defense by the Indian generated enough evidence that every opening could be playable only till he walked into a deft manoeuvre.
Aravindh lost in the rook and minor piece endgame after losing one of his pawn, and if that was not enough top seeded Vincent Keymer of Germany was blown away by a resurgent Jorden van Foreest of The Netherlands.
It was another Berlin defense wherein Foreest came out with a new idea that perplexed Keymer. As the opening concluded, the Dutchman had an advantage and he picked up a handful of pawns to register a comprehensive victory.
Also ending on a winning note was Abdusattorov's name sake and teammate Nodirbek Yakubboev who put it across David Anton Gujjaro of Spain, while in the other encounter of the day local favourite Navara David proved stronger against Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo.
In the challengers section, women's world cup winner Divya Deshmukh drew with top seeded Benjamin Gledura of Hungary from a position of strength but Surya Shekhar Ganguly ended on the receiving end against Thomas Beerdsen of The Netherlands.
Results after round 1 Masters: D Gukesh (IND) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (USA); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (IND); Jorden van Foreest (NED) beat Vincent Keymer (GER); David Navara (CZE) beat Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI); Nodirbek Yakubboev beat David Anton Guijarro (ESP).
Challengers: Divya Deshmukh (IND) drew with Benjamin Gledura (HUN); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND) lost to Thomas Beersden (NED); Zhu Jiner (CHN) lost to Jachym Nemec (CZE); Daniel Yuffa (ESP) lost to Stepen Hrbek (CZE); Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) drew with Vaclav Finek (CZE).
