Vladimir Putin: Russia-India relations reach strategic-partnership level

The traditionally friendly relations between Russia and India have of late assumed a new quality and reached the level of strategic partnership. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this in the greetings sent to the Indian leadership on the occasion of the national holiday, Republic Day.

RIA Novosti was told at the press service of the Russian head of state that these greetings have been sent to Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Russian president believes that the strategic partnership will become one of the key factors of the world politics in the 21st century. Putin stressed that this is especially important in conditions when international terrorism has cast a challenge to mankind.

In the estimate of the Russian president, India has stepped into the 21st century as a powerful democratic state, which enjoys a weighty authority in world affairs. The stability and strength of Russian-Indian contacts, said Vladimir Putin, has passed the test of time and was checked during the most complicated turns of modern history.