Russian romance

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies in the Russian port town of Vladivostok on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that PM Modi is just doing the right thing in promoting the Make in India programme. He made the remarks while speaking at the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) 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 Modi. In an address at the forum, Putin said, “You know, we did not have domestically made cars then, 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 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, according to a transcript of the plenary session posted on Kremlin’s website.