Modi invited for V-Day celebrations, waiting for response: Kremlin

Moscow | Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited for the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9, but there has been no response from New Delhi, a top Kremlin aide said Thursday.

On May 9, Russia celebrates victory in WWII over Nazi Germany and this year has invited leaders of select friendly nations to attend the 80th anniversary event. The leaders include Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has accepted the invitation.

“The Prime Minister has been invited for 9 May, but so far we have not received any response,” Kremlin’s foreign aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian State TV.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Russia-Qatar summit in the Kremlin, Ushakov said that this year it was “our turn to visit India for the regular summit” and discussions are ongoing for President Vladimir Putin’s visit.

In October 2000, President Putin visited New Delhi for the first time and signed the Strategic Partnership Declaration with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Over the past quarter century, this partnership has evolved into a “special and privileged” partnership between New Delhi and Moscow.