I have only one goal - my country, the people of India: Modi tells Putin

Moscow: During a 'private engagement' with Russian President Vladimir Putin at his official residence Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his only goal is to serve the people of India.

"You have dedicated your entire life to serving the Indian people, and people feel it," the Russian President told the Prime Minister to which PM Modi responded by saying, "You are right, I have only one goal - my country, the people of India."

Earlier, PM Modi was welcomed by President Putin at his official residence at Novo-Ogaryovo for a 'private engagement'.

President Putin told the Prime Minister, "Esteemed Prime Minister! Dear friend! Good afternoon again, I am very glad to see you. We will have official conversations tomorrow, but today, in this homely environment, we can calmly talk about probably the same issues – but unofficially."

President Putin, while talking about Novo-Ogaryovo, said, "This is the official residence where I live. On one side are the complexes where I work with colleagues. On the other side are the utility rooms and the block where I live. You and I were there today."

Congratulation PM Modi on his third term, President Putin said: "But first I would like to congratulate you on your re-election as Prime Minister. I think this is not accidental, but the result of your work over many years at the head of the Indian government. You have your own ideas, you are a very energetic person, you know how to achieve results in the interests of India and the Indian people. And the result is obvious: India confidently ranks third in the world in terms of economy. Probably, now it is the largest country in the world in terms of population - 1.4 billion people."

President Putin told Prime Minister Modi that the most important thing is that there are 23 million births per year. Even for a country like India, this is still a lot.

"This is the highest figure in the world. These are not just numbers, this means that people are planning their families, their lives, the planning horizon is expanding. And this means that they feel confident, they feel a certain stability, which is very important. Firstly, I congratulate you on this, and secondly, I want to say once again that I am very glad to see you."

The Prime Minister Modi responded by saying: "To visit a friend at home is, of course, a great joy. You invited me to your home. I want to thank you for creating such an interesting program [of the visit], for your warm words. I am very grateful.

"You are right, yes, the elections in India were very important and huge in scale. India is the largest democracy, it is considered the "mother of democracy", and about 650 million people voted in these elections. For the first time in the last 60 years, the government was elected for the third time in a row. The first time [this was done] was by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he was elected for the third time, and after 60 years I got this opportunity. The people of India gave me this chance - to serve the Motherland," the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi added: "The people of India who gave me this mandate… I have served for 10 years in the government and my principle is to reform, implement and transform. So the people of India voted for this principle and I am confident that in my third term I will work three times harder."

IANS with edits