Talks with Putin to further strengthen ties: Modi
New Delhi, May 20: Ahead of his visit to the Russian city of Sochi for an informal summit with President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the talks will help further strengthen bilateral ties.
"Greetings to the friendly people of Russia. I look forward to my visit to Sochi tomorrow (Monday) and my meeting with President Putin. It is always a pleasure to meet him," Modi said in a statement prior to his departure.
"Am confident the talks with President Putin will further strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia," he stated.
The Prime Minister's visit comes after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale visited Moscow earlier this month to discuss a way out of the US sanctions on Russian firms.
The sanctions against Russian oligarchs and companies, including Rosoboronexport, the state-owned Russian weapons trading company, has raised concerns in India about a possible impact on India's military buys from Moscow.
An External Affairs Ministry release said Modi's visit to Russia will be an important occasion for him and Putin to exchange views on international matters in a broad and long-term perspective in order to further strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership.
"Both leaders will discuss their respective national developmental priorities and bilateral matters," the statement said.
It said the informal summit was in keeping with the tradition of regular consultations between India and Russia at the highest level.
Putin is also expected to visit India later this year for the annual bilateral summit.
Russia and Japan are the only two countries with which India holds annual bilateral summits.
Modi's visit to Russia also comes just after Putin won a fourth term in office in March this year after remaining in power for almost two decades. Modi and Putin last met in Russia last year.
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HP Cong Minority Morcha delegation meets with party leader Venugopal over mosque row
Shimla (PTI): A delegation of the Himachal Congress Minority Morcha apprised the party's central leaders on Thursday of the atmosphere of fear created in the state by targeting a particular community and staging demonstrations near mosques.
The delegation led by Iqbal Mohammad, president of the state Congress Minority Morcha, also comprised imams of various mosques. It met with Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and its Minority Morcha national president Imran Pratapgarhi in New Delhi.
In a statement here, the state Congress Minority Morcha said the situation has become tense due to demonstrations by Hindu outfits in front of mosques and efforts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere and instill fear among Muslims.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is trying to take people of all religions along but some elements are trying to spoil the atmosphere and malign the government, it added.
According to the statement, Venugopal spoke to the chief minister over the phone over the issue.
Ten people were injured during a protest demanding the demolition of a portion of a mosque in Shimla's Sanjauli area last week. In Mandi, police used water cannons on protestors demanding the demolition of an unauthorised portion of a mosque in the town.
On Tuesday, residents of Kasumpti in Shimla submitted a memorandum to demolish a mosque in the area and similar demands are also coming in from Sunni and other areas in the state.
A dispute between a barber from the minority community and a local businessman in the Malyana area in the suburbs of Shimla on August 30 turned into a communal issue with Hindu groups demanding the demolition of unauthorised mosques and residents calling for the identification and verification of outsiders coming in the state.
