India got lucky. Modi lives and breathes India: Putin’s glowing praise for PM Modi
Vladimir Putin called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a reliable leader deeply committed to India and to strengthening India-Russia ties
By R Anil Kumar
New Delhi, December 5, 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 4, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s relentless dedication to his work, observing that the Prime Minister “lives and breathes India”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Russian leader said, “We have very trustworthy and friendly relations. He is a very reliable person. In that sense, I’m speaking very sincerely. India got lucky. He lives and breathes India”.
Putin said it was a “great pleasure” to speak with the Prime Minister, whom he described as “a person of integrity”.
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“He is deeply committed to strengthening ties between India and Russia across a wide spectrum, particularly on key areas of economic cooperation, defence, humanitarian engagement, and high-technology development. It is very interesting to meet him,” Putin added.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier visit to Moscow, the Russian President recalled that the two leaders had an engaging conversation, “purely like humans.” “He travelled here, and we sat together at my residence. We drank tea the whole evening and discussed a range of topics. We simply had an interesting conversation, purely like humans,” said Vladimir Putin.
The Russian President arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, December 4, evening, for a two-day visit at PM Modi’s invitation, aimed at further strengthening a durable eight-decade-old bilateral partnership that has remained steady despite global geopolitical upheavals. The discussions are expected to focus on cooperation in defence, trade, and technology.
In a rare and personal gesture, Modi received Putin at the airport with a warm embrace, where the two leaders shared a hug before heading together in the Prime Minister’s car to his official residence, where the Russian leader was later hosted for a private dinner.
Nearly three months earlier, when Modi met Putin in the Chinese city of Tianjin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the Russian President had rode him in his own vehicle, a symbolic gesture that drew global attention, particularly as it came amid strained geopolitical currents and US’s tariff pressure on India over New Delhi’s relations with Moscow.
