Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “looks forward to cooperation” with Russia and “warmly congratulates His Excellency Vladimir Putin on his re-election as President of the Russian Federation.” This statement by the head of government of the world's largest democracy appeared a day after the pseudo-elections in Russia ended, in which only Putin could win.
Modi joined the small number of leaders who sent telegrams to the Kremlin with his congratulations. Previously, Putin's other allies, including the leader, did so China Xi Jinping and North Korea Kim Jong Un and the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. Congratulations also came from some countries in Central and South America and the former sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, e.g. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
“I warmly congratulate His Excellency Vladimir Putin on his re-election as President of the Russian Federation. We look forward to working together to further strengthen the proven and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia in the years to come,” Modi's statement read.
Western governments and international organizations have stated in their statements that elections they were neither free nor democratic.
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Moscow and New Delhi have ties dating back to the Cold War. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, India has maintained a position of strategic neutrality. After the start of the full-scale war in 2022, the authorities in New Delhi not only failed to clearly condemn Moscow and did not impose sanctions on Russian entities, but also repeatedly increased purchases of Russian crude oil at a reduced price and maintained continuous military and technical cooperation with Russia.
Narendra ModiPAP/EPA
Until last year, Russia was also India's largest arms supplier. India and China, along with Russia, are members of the BRICS group of emerging economies that aims to challenge US dominance in the global economy.
The Central Election Commission in Russia announced on Monday that after counting, 99.75 percent votes Putin received support of 87.29%. The current 71-year-old Putin will serve a total of five terms in power, lasting six years, which means he will become Russia's longest-serving leader in over 200 years.
Main photo source: EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE