Russian President Vladimir Putin heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ policy while promoting the use of Russian-made cars in the domestic market.
Putin made these remarks in response to a media question on Russian-made cars at the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Tuesday (Sept 12).
This is the second time that Putin has praised the ‘Make in India’ policy, which was launched in 2014 as part of India’s renewed focus on boosting manufacturing.
“You know, we did not have domestically made cars then (1990s), 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 that it was 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.
“You probably know about the proposals to continue buying these cars. It would be easy to do, because the logistics are streamlined,” he added.
Welcomes India Middle East Europe connectivity project
The Russian president also welcomed the India Middle East Europe connectivity project launched in New Delhi after the G20 Summit, saying that it “will help us develop logistics and will be an addition to the international North-South transport project that connects Moscow to Mumbai”.
He said that the US jumped into the “last car” by agreeing with the European Union, Saudi Arabia and India on the creation of a new economic corridor, but added that the project will be beneficial for Russia.
“I believe that this will only benefit us. I believe that this will only help us develop logistics. Firstly, this project has been discussed for a long time, for several years.”
“True, the Americans jumped on this train at the last moment. But for them, I don’t see much point in being in this project. Only, perhaps, from the point of view of business interest. Meanwhile, the additional movement of goods along this corridor is, in fact, an addition to our North-South project. We have nothing here we see something that could somehow hinder us,” he added.