Russian President, Netherlands PM congratulate Modi

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte have called Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and congratulated him on his historical win in the recent general elections.

Inviting Modi to visit the Russian Federation in near future, Putin said he looked forward to meet India's next prime minister at the BRICS Summit to be held in July 2014, according to a statement issued by the Gujarat government Friday.

The Russian president expressed the hope that, during the BRICS Summit, the two leaders would be able to discuss bilateral cooperation between India and Russia.

Putin recalled that the declaration signed in year 2000 when the NDA government was in power in India was still the foundation for strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Emphasising that relations between the two countries were multi-dimensional, Putin said he looked forward to the bilateral summit to be held in India later in the year.

Modi thanked President Putin for his warm wishes and recalled his visit to Russia and meeting the president. He said India valued the friendship and support of the Russian Federation and its people.

Congratulating Modi, Netherlands Prime Minister Rutte said the Netherlands' connection with India is 400 years old and had its roots in Surat.

He said that he had been following the general elections in India and the popularity of Modi. He added that he looked forward to meet Modi at the earliest and expressed the hope that, under his leadership, cooperation between the Netherlands and India would grow in leaps.