We laud Putin's role in strengthening ties: President

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said that India appreciated Russian President Vladimi Putins personal contribution to the bilateral "special and privileged strategic partnership".

Putin, who was on a two-day visit to India staring Thursday, called on Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Welcoming the Russian President, Kovind said India-Russia "warm and friendly ties" were progressing well.

"Our 19th annual bilateral summit was a success. This has been a very productive year for our relations and significant achievements have been made," the President said.

He said that there have been significant developments on military technical cooperation, which is one of the pillars of our strategic partnership.

India inked the much-awaited deal on buying the Russian S-400 Triumf missile system.

The President said that India is keen to enhance its economic ties with Russia.

"The bilateral trade now stands at US $ 10 billion. We need to further improve upon it to reach the target of US $ 30 billion by 2025," he said.

Kovind observed that India and Russia have always had excellent cultural relations, and noted that the Festival of India has been organised in Russia after a gap of 30 years.

It was inaugurated at the Kremlin Palace and will continue till March 2019 in various cities of Russia.

--IANS

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