Russian President Vladimir Putin praises PM Modi's 'Make in India' in automobiles; says he is 'doing the right thing'

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‘Make in India’ policy while speaking at the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia's port town of Vladivostok. He said PM Modi is just doing the "right thing" in promoting the Make in India programme.

Speaking in response to a media query on Russian-made cars, Putin said that domestically made automobiles must be used and India has already set examples through its policies under the leadership of PM Modi.

"You know, we did not have domestically made cars then (in the 90s), but we do now. It is true that they look more modest than Mercedes or Audi cars, which we bought in vast amounts in the 1990s, but this is not an issue. I think that we should emulate many of our partners, for example, India. They are focused on the manufacture and use of Indian-made vehicles. I think that Prime Minister Modi is doing the right thing in promoting the Make in India programme. He is right," he said, as per news agency ANI.

He added that it is absolutely fine to use Russian-made automobiles.

"We have (Russian-made) automobiles, and we must use them; this is absolutely fine. This will not lead to any infringements of our WTO obligations, absolutely not. It will concern state purchases. We must create a certain chain regarding what cars different classes of officials can drive, so that they will use domestically-made cars," Putin said in Vladivostok.

"You probably know about the proposals to continue buying these cars. It would be easy to do, because the logistics are streamlined," he added.

At the event, the Russian President said that there was nothing in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) — announced on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi — that could hinder Russia and he only saw the project benefiting the country.

The IMEC comprises of an Eastern Corridor connecting India to the Gulf region and a Northern Corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe. It will include a railway and ship-rail transit network and road transport routes.

An MOU on IMEC was signed by India, USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, European Union, Italy, France and Germany.

The Russian President said that the IMEC would help his country develop logistics and added that the project had been under discussion for several years.

Also Read: US tops India's FDI sources in FY23, Mauritius, UK next in line: RBI census data