President Murmu Hosts President Putin on Final Day of India Visit (Image: File)
The second day of Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to India was marked by formal ceremonies and diplomatic engagements in the national capital. President Droupadi Murmu hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting leader at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday evening, following a ceremonial welcome that included a tri-services guard of honour, underscoring the significance India attaches to the bilateral relationship.
President Putin's schedule on Friday involved high-profile state functions. President Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave him an official ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan's forecourt to start the day.
The formal engagements followed the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit held between PM Modi and President Putin. The leaders issued a Joint Statement that strongly reaffirmed their commitment to combating shared security threats.
The unified approach to terrorism was a crucial lesson. Major terrorist attacks on each other's territory were "condemned in the harshest terms" by both governments, including the Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow in March 2024 and the Pahalgam incident in Jammu & Kashmir in April 2025. They pledged to strengthen cooperation against terrorism, extremism, and transnational crime.
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President Putin's two-day visit, his first to India since 2021, concluded late Friday evening. From the beginning, the visit was noted for its personal touches, such as the gift of a Bhagavad Gita, a shared vehicle journey, and PM Modi's unconventional arrival at the airport on Thursday.
Prior to this, PM Modi had posted on social media that he was "delighted" to see his "friend" President Putin return after a four-year absence, referring to the friendship between Russia and India as "time-tested." The sequence of events demonstrated the partnership's durability and strategic character by fusing formal statecraft with personal rapport.
A: It is a formal state honour extended to visiting heads of state, involving a guard of honour by the armed forces. It symbolizes respect and the importance of the bilateral relationship.
A: Senior dignitaries from both countries attended. The Russian delegation included Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, while the Indian side included External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, among others.
A: The forceful, unanimous denunciation of terrorism, which included reference of recent assaults in Moscow (Russia) and Jammu & Kashmir (India), as well as a pledge to increase cooperation in the fight against it, was a key highlight.
A: It was a two-day state visit, from Thursday evening to late Friday evening, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A: Breaking standard protocol, PM Modi personally received President Putin at the Palam airport tarmac upon his arrival on Thursday, a gesture reserved for closest allies, and the two leaders shared a car ride to the PM's residence.
