Vladimir Putin India Visit : Russian President Vladimir Putin first came to India for a summit with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in October 2000.

Putin was then new to the President’s job — having been elected earlier in 2000 — and Vajpayee was also in the early years of his Prime Ministership.

New Delhi was under sanctions from the West for the Pokhran-II nuclear tests, while Russia was a pale shadow of the erstwhile Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union’s collapse, the US dominated the scene in a unipolar world.

India and Pakistan were in a bitter relationship, after the Kargil war and the IC-814 hijack in 1999. In fact, Putin’s visit took place months before the Red Fort attack in December 2000.

In short, Russia was weak and India was facing the brunt of Western sanctions.

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