Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin to his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence on Thursday evening, where Mr Modi later hosted a dinner for his distinguished guest. The two will hold summit talks on Friday. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in New Delhi on Thursday evening and was warmly received by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, following which the Russian President met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hosted a dinner for him. The meeting took place ahead of the detailed talks to be held between the two leaders on the occasion of the India-Russia annual bilateral summit on Friday, when a crucial deal for the acquisition of the S-400 air defence missile system from Russia is expected to be signed. This is likely to be among several agreements to be inked in various fields, including cooperation in space.

“Upon his arrival in India for the #IndiaRussia Annual Bilateral Summit, @KremlinRussia_E Vladimir Putin was warmly received  by EAM @SushmaSwaraj #DruzbaDosti,” the MEA tweeted on Thursday.

PM Modi tweeted: “Welcome to India, President Putin. Looking forward to our deliberations, which will further enhance India-Russia friendship”. The government released images of the two leaders warmly embracing each other. When asked why Mr Modi had not personally received the Russian leader at the airport, government sources said several factors including reciprocity are taken into consideration and that such a decision is the PM’s prerogative.

The Thursday evening meeting of the two leaders follows the hugely successful informal  summit they held at the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi in May this year, which had considerably strengthened relations with India’s time-tested friend.

According to reports, India is set to sign a much-talked-about contract to acquire S-400 missiles from Russia worth nearly $6 billion during the visit. India had earlier decided to go ahead with acquiring these missiles from Russia much to the discomfiture of the United States, whose ties with Moscow are under a severe strain. Caught in a difficult situation, India is hoping to secure a waiver from the US to escape the American sanctions on Russian military exports.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had also visited Russia last month, on September 13-14. It may be recalled that India and the US had last month held their “2+2” dialogue at the foreign and defence ministerial level in New Delhi, when India put across its case firmly to Washington for a waiver on the acquisition of S-400 missiles from Russia.

While the defence and civil nuclear sectors are the mainstay of the decades-long Indo-Russian cooperation, Ms Swaraj visited Russia to attend the meeting of the 23rd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation, co-chaired by her and Russian deputy PM Yuri Borisov. IRIGC-TEC is a standing body that meets annually and reviews bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, science and technology, culture and other issues of mutual interest.

With the sharp deterioration of ties between Russia and the West, experts feel New Delhi had earlier this year realised that a perception had crept in that it had grown too close to Washington at the cost of its ties with time-tested friend Russia. Moscow too had considerably softened its stand towards Islamabad, adding to New Delhi’s discomfort.

But with one masterstroke that the Sochi informal summit was, New Delhi had sought to erase any misconception or negative perceptions in Moscow’s mind and put the decades-old friendship firmly back on track. The move had also sent a powerful signal to the West that India will not sacrifice its strategic friendship with Russia at any cost. New Delhi has also made it clear it will continue to acquire weapons systems from Russia despite the American sanctions on Russian military exports.