MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Narendra Modi, the designated Prime Minister of India, on the victory of his opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BPJ) in the 2014 Indian general election, the Kremlin said Monday.
In his message of congratulations, Putin said he was confident the two countries could “work together to build on” the bilateral relations based on the Strategic Partnership Declaration signed in October 2000, when BPJ was the ruling party.
“Fruitful cooperation over recent years has produced impressive results that confirm the Declaration’s historic significance,” Putin said, adding that Russia and India had since carried out large and mutually advantageous projects in the economic, military, technical, cultural and humanitarian sectors.
The general election was conducted from April 7 to May 12. The opposition’s victory became clear on Friday just one hour after vote counting began.
The BPJ-led National Democratic Alliance won the majority of seats in the Indian parliament in 1999 and remained in power until 2004, when it lost the general election to another major Indian party, the Indian National Congress.
While Russia is a major supplier of arms to India, bilateral relations were soured by the fatal accident of the Russian-built submarine Sindhurakshak, which sank in August 2013 in the port of Mumbai following a series of explosions.
Relations were also strained by delays in the delivery of the Russian-built Vikramaditya aircraft carrier. Russia is also involved in building a series of nuclear power plants in India.
In February 2013, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters in New Delhi that India could sign a cooperation treaty with the customs union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
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