New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday night kick-started a nearly 27-hour visit to India to further shore up a nearly eight-decade bilateral partnership that remained in firm footing notwithstanding 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 reciprocal gesture to the hospitality extended to th

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