New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on the third leg of his four-nation tour, on Friday visited the State Hermitage Museum. Later he will jointly address the St Petersburg International Economic Forum with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Â
Russia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg pic.twitter.com/M8I4DKioT3
— ANI (@ANI_news) June 2, 2017
Later, PM Modi will also visit Make In India Pavilion at the economic forum. He is also scheduled to meet Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Kern and UN Secy Gen António Guterres, who on Thursday defended India's commitment on climate change in face of US allegations.Â
On the first day of his Russian trip, the Prime Minister paid homage to Russian martyrs at Piskarovskoye Cemetery in St Petersburg and inked five major agreements with Russia.Â
Reflecting upon seven decades of friendship. PM @narendramodi and President Putin interact during a walk in the gardens of Konstantin Palace pic.twitter.com/kzxuegFCBm
— Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 1, 2017
Fight against terrorismÂ
The two leaders also urged all countries to stop cross-border movement of terrorists and asserted that a decisive collective response from the international community without “double standards and selectivity†was required to combat terrorism.
Prime Minister Modi, addressing a joint press event with Putin, said India welcomes Russia’s unconditional support in the fight against cross-border terrorism.
Modi said the views of the two countries are similar on the problem in whichever form it exists, whether in Afghanistan, the Middle East or Asia-Pacific.
“India and Russia stand together on terrorism and the new challenges to security,†he said.
“We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stress that there can be no justification whatsoever for any acts of terrorism, whether based upon ideological, religious, political, racial, ethnic or any other reasons,†the two countries said in the St Petersburg declaration titled ‘A vision for the 21st century’.
The strong pitch against terrorism comes after Prime Minister Modi also raised the issue of combating the menace with the top leadership in Germany and Spain.
Indo-Russian dealsÂ
Sharing common approaches to providing security in the use of information and communication technologies, India and Russia also vowed to keep working together for developing universal rules, standards and principles of responsible behaviour of the states in this context, on the basis of democratisation and a model representing multi-stakeholderism with primacy of the state, in global Internet governance.
“We recognise the necessity to activate bilateral interaction in this sphere on the basis of the Indian-Russian Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Security in the use of Information and Communication Technologies,†the statement said.
The two countries asserted that they are confident that they will continue to remain a role model for harmonious and mutually beneficial partnership and strong friendship between two states.
“Building on the shared vision of development of bilateral relations, we will succeed in further realising the immense potential of India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership for the benefit of our states and international community as a whole,†the statement said.
