Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a grand welcome with a programme by the Russian Cultural Troupe before he addressed the Indian community in Moscow on Tuesday. After the programme, he interacted with the artistes of the troupe and asked them if they had visited India. Many of the artistes responded that they had, and that they had even performed on stage in India.
PM Modi then asked whether the Russian artistes could speak Hindi, and several said they could.
In his address to the Indian diaspora in Moscow, the Prime Minister praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for strengthening the bilateral relationship over the past two decades.
"On hearing the word Russia, the first word that comes to mind of every Indian is India's all-weather friend ('sukh-dukh ka saathi') and a trusted ally,” Modi said.
PM Modi said he had a special appreciation for his “friend” Putin, for steering India-Russia friendship to great heights over the last two decades. Seeking to criticise the “influence-oriented global order”, he said, "But, what the world needs right now is confluence not influence and no one can deliver this message better than India, which has a strong tradition of worshipping confluences.”
He said India was going undergoing a significant transformation, and the pace of development over the past 10 years had taken the world by surprise.
“Today's India is full of self-confidence, unlike the situation before 2014, and this is our biggest capital,” PM Modi said. He added that India would write a new chapter of global growth in the coming years.
The Prime Minister said that, exactly a month ago, he took oath as prime minister for his third consecutive term. At the time, he resolved to work with triple strength and speed to fulfil the aspirations of India, he said.