Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday night kick-started a nearly 27-hour visit to India to further shore up a nearly eight-decade bilateral partnership that remained on a firm footing notwithstanding a fractious geopolitical environment and tensions.

In reflection of the importance India attached to the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Putin at New Delhi’s Palam airport with a hug and accorded him a warm welcome to India after a gap of four years.

The two leaders left the airport in the same car, nearly three months after they travelled together on a vehicle in the Chinese city of Tianjin following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Modi is hosting a private dinner for Putin this evening, in a reciprocal gesture to the hospitality extended to the Indian

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