India-Russia ties: ‘Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a big friend of Russia', said President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at a forum in Moscow organized by Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI).
He also praised the central government's ‘Make in India’ campaign, saying that it has a ‘truly impressive effect’ on the country's economy, according to a report published by the news agency PTI, citing RT News.
The 'Make in India' initiative was launched by PM Modi in 2014 and aimed to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in the country and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing.
“Our friends in India and our big friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative several years ago. It has had a truly impressive effect on the Indian economy,” Putin said.
"It would do no harm to emulate what is working well, even if it was not us but our friends who created it,” the Russian President added.
His remarks came while discussing the opportunities for Russian companies due to the West's sanctions policies, and the need for Moscow to offer support tools to help the companies market their product more efficiently.
Putin credited Indian leadership for creating an effective model to develop local manufacturing capabilities and wooing foreign investors.
He further emphasized the need to think about “making our products more convenient and functional, with a modern look and properties”, the RT News report said.
India has the largest population of over 1.4 billion people and the 5th largest GDP of around USD 3.7 trillion.
In recent years, India has emerged not only as an alternative destination for license manufacturing for global companies but also as a massive consumer market for foreign investors, the report said.
The country's export performance has improved, according to official data, from around USD 468 billion in 2014 to an estimated USD 770 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year, PTI reported.
India has also seen a significant increase in foreign direct investment inflows, from USD 36 billion in 2014 to over USD 81 billion in 2020-21.
Putin and Modi last met on the sidelines of a regional security bloc summit in Uzbekistan in September 2022.
(With PTI inputs)
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