PM Modi, Xi Jinping ‘responsible’ leaders, can solve bilateral issues: Vladimir Putin

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday asserted that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are "responsible" leaders and are capable of solving their issues. Putin told PTI that it was important that no "extra-regional power" should interfere in the process.

"Yes, I do know that there are some issues related to India-China relations but there are always a lot of issues between neighbouring countries but I know the attitude of both the Prime Minister of India and also the President of China. These are very responsible people and they earnestly treat one another with utmost respect and I believe that they will always arrive at a solution to any issue that they might face..," the Russian President told PTI during a virtual interaction.

The Russian president's remarks on Moscow's view on Quad is a veiled reference to China's allegation that the grouping aim's to contain Beijing's influence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

On the four-nation grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia, he said that no partnership should be aimed at making friends against anyone. He clarifiied that though it was not up to Moscow to assess how any nation should participate in an initiative and to what extent they should build their relations with other countries.

Notably, it has been more than a year since the military standoff between China and India which broke out at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on May 5, 2020 during which both sides suffered fatalities for the first time in 45 years.

Despite several rounds of negotiations between the two neighbours, limited progress was made in the border dispute. Though, it achieved disengagement at the Pangong Lake area but other friction points remained deadlocked.