NEW DELHI: India’s trusted friend, Russia, on Friday greeted President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day. The Russian embassy in India, in an official statement, said that Vladimir Putin sent greetings to Murmu and PM Modi, while acknowledging New Delhi’s “widely recognised success in socio-economic, scientific, technical, and other fields.” Releasing the official statement on its official Telegram channel, the Russian embassy shared Putin’s message in which he said India enjoys well-deserved respect on the global stage and actively contributes to addressing key issues.“India has achieved widely recognised success in socio-economic, scientific, technical, and other fields. Your country enjoys well-deserved respect on the global stage and actively contributes to addressing key issues on the international agenda,” the message reads.Russia’s greetings to India came at a crucial time when US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats are looming over both countries. Trump announced 25 per cent penalty charges on India for its oil with Russia; meanwhile, he is trying to corner Moscow over its war against Ukraine. Putin continued that Russia highly value the strategic partnership between the two countries and expressed willingness to expand “constructive bilateral cooperation across multiple areas.”

“We highly value our special, privileged strategic partnership with India. I am confident that, through our joint efforts, we will continue to expand constructive bilateral cooperation across multiple areas. This aligns fully with the interests of our friendly peoples and supports the strengthening of security and stability both regionally and globally,” the statement added.