Shashi Tharoor invited to banquet in honour of Russia's Putin, says 'I will certainly attend'

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, upon receiving an invitation to the banquet in honour of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, said it is “inappropriate” that leaders of the Opposition are not invited and noted he will “certainly attend”.

As reported by PTI, Thiruvananthapuram MP said, “I don’t know on what basis invitations are issued, but I will certainly attend. It is not appropriate that the Leaders of the Opposition are not invited.”

However, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi were not invited to the President’s banquet being hosted this evening during Putin’s two-day state visit to India.

President Putin arrived in national capital on Thursday on two-day visit.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tharoor stressed upon the importance of India's relationship with Russia, ahead of the much-anticipated visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking to media outside the Parliament on the Putin's upcoming visit, Tharoor said, “It is a very important visit. It's an extremely important relationship. We talk for a long time about strategic autonomy; we have to preserve our negotiating space with America, China, Russia.”

Stating that India has independent ties with other countries, he added, “We cannot mortgage our autonomy to any other country's interest. We have to have independent relationships with all countries. Russia is an old relationship, it is a serious relationship, strong relationship.”

Earlier in the day, addressing the India-Russia Business Forum in New Delhi, President Putin said that due to initiatives by PM Modi such as the Make in India programme, India is becoming technologically sovereign.

He said that the Russian delegation did not only come to discuss energy issues and sign contracts for the supplies of oil and gas.

"What we want is the development of our multifaceted relations with India in various fields. Prime Minister stressed on many occasions in our private talks that India has vast and growing opportunities in many fields, but up until now they haven't been used to the extent both parties want to see it. That is precisely the reason why we convened this forum," he said.

President Putin said Russia is for strengthening its multifaceted relations with India in various fields.

He also said that Russian companies are ready to increase purchases of a wide range of goods and services from India.

(With inputs from agencies)