Why are relations with India key for the Kremlin?

• Steve Rosenberg
  Russia editor
• With a population of nearly a 1.5 billion people and economic growth exceeding 8%, India is a hugely attractive market for Russian goods and resources - especially oil.
• India - the world's third largest consumer of crude oil - has been buying large volumes from Russia since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• But earlier this year, the Trump administration slapped an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods for buying Russian oil, arguing that it was helping to fund the Kremlin's war chest - an accusation India denied.
• But in the past months, orders from India for Russian oil have dropped. President Putin will be keen for India to keep buying.
• For Moscow, weapons sale to India is another priority and reports say that India plans to buy state-of-the-art weapons from Russia.
• Russia, hit by a labour shortage, also sees India as a valuable source of skilled workers.
• You can read more of my analysis of the visit here.
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• Modi gives Putin a copy of the Gita
• At the meeting last night, Modi gave Putin a Russian translation of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest texts.
• More than 2,000 years old, the Gita is part of the Mahabharata - one of Hinduism’s greatest epics - and at 700 verses, among the world’s longest poems. It is written as a battlefield dialogue between the warrior prince Arjuna and Krishna.
• "The teachings of the Gita give inspiration to millions across the world," Modi wrote on X.
• Image source,Narendra Modi/X
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• Putin's tribute to Mahatma Gandhi
• Sandro Gvindadze
  BBC Monitoring journalist
• Image source,ANI
• Earlier in the day, Putin visited Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial, where he left a short note in the visitor’s book, describing him as “one of the founders of the Indian state, the great philosopher and humanist”.
• His “ideas about freedom, virtue and humanitarianism remain relevant to this day,” he wrote.
• “Gandhi essentially anticipated the new, more just multipolar world order that is currently taking shape," Putin noted.
• "In his letters to [Russian author] Leo Tolstoy, he reflected extensively on the future of the world - one free from dictates and hegemony, built on principles of equality, mutual respect and cooperation among nations.
• "And these are precisely the principles and values that Russia and India are defending together on the international stage today,” the message read.
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• Focus back on Russia-India passenger jet deal
• Jugal Purohit
  Reporting from Delhi
• A few weeks ago in Moscow, officials from both countries signed, external an initial agreement to build the SJ-100, a Russ