Moscow/New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election as PM and said this was not accidental, but the result of his work over the years at the head of the government in India.
President Putin, in his remarks during the informal meet with PM Modi at his Novo Ogarevo state residence on Monday evening, said the fact that India was seeing 23 million births per year, which is the biggest figure in the world, means that people are planning their families, their lives, and feel stability in their lives, and for this he congratulated the PM.
In remarks roughly translated in English, President Putin’s comments were: “Dear Mr. Prime Minister! Dear friend! Good afternoon again, I am very glad to see you.
“We will have our official conversation tomorrow, but today we can talk about the same issues informally in this home environment.
“But in the beginning, I would like to congratulate you on your re-election as Prime Minister. I think this is not accidental, but the result of your work over the years at the head of the government of India. You have your own ideas, you are a very energetic person, you know how to achieve results in the interests of India and the Indian people. And the result is obvious: India confidently ranks third in the world in terms of economy. Probably now the largest country in the world – 1.4 billion people.
“But the most important thing is that 23 million births per year. Even for a country like India, it’s still a lot. This is the biggest figure in the world. It’s not easy numbers, that means people are planning their family, their lives, their planning horizon expands. And that means that they feel confident, feel stability is certain, which is very important.”
“Firstly, I congratulate you on this, and secondly, I want to say again that I am very glad to see you.”
PM Modi, in his reply (as translated) said: “Visiting a friend is, of course, a great joy. You invited me to your home. I want to thank you for creating such an interesting program [visit], for your warm words. Very grateful.
“You are right, yes, the elections in India were very important and huge in scale. India – is the largest democracy, it is considered the mother of democracy, and about 650 million people voted in this election. For the first time in 60 years, a government got elected for the third time in a row. First time [this was done] the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he got voted a third time, and after 60 years I had such an opportunity. The people of India gave me this chance – to serve the Motherland.
“People of India who gave me this mandate … I worked for 10 years in the government, and I have the principle: to reform, execute and transform, Therefore, the people of India voted precisely for this principle, and I am sure that in the third term I will work three times more.”
President Putin: You have devoted your whole life to serving the Indian people, and people feel it.
“PM Modi (as translated): You are right, I have only one goal – this is my country, the people of India.”
