Despite continued pressure from the United States, Russia and India¡¯s increasingly close economic exchanges and high-level exchanges have not been affected.

On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a phone call with India¡¯s Prime Minister and sent Modi a birthday greeting.

The Kremlin said that the leaders of the two countries exchanged views on international issues such as the situation in Russia and Ukraine, and also talked about matters related to Putin's planned visit to India in December.

According to the World Wide Web, the day before, US President Trump called Modi in advance to congratulate him on his 75th birthday.

Blessed by Putin

Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in a small town in Gujarat, India, and has been Prime Minister of India since 2014.

September 17 marks Modi's 75th birthday. In the afternoon of the same day, the Kremlin posted the news of the phone call between the leaders of the two countries on its official website.

The message said that Putin sincerely blessed Modi.Putin stressed that under Modi's leadership, India is pursuing a policy of independence and achieving remarkable economic results.

Putin pointed out that Russia-India relations have remained friendly for a long time. He expressed satisfaction with the progress of Russia-India's "special and strategic priority partnership", and particularly emphasized that it also embodied Modi's important personal contribution.

The press release also revealed that the two leaders discussed preparations for Putin's planned visit to India in December and exchanged views on a series of international issues including the situation in Ukraine.

This is the second exchange between the leaders of the two countries after a few weeks. At the end of last month, the two just met during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin.

According to the plan, the 23rd Russia-India Summit will be held in India later this year.

The Russia-India Summit is a dialogue mechanism between the top leaders of the two countries that has been running for many years. It started in 2000 and is held alternately in the two countries every year, aiming at strengthening cooperation between the two countries in bilateral and multilateral affairs. Also in 2000, Russia and India formally established a strategic partnership.

Last July, Modi visited Russia, and the 22nd Russian Summit was held in Moscow.

Modi is back.

Later that day, Modi posted on social media, "Thank you to my friend President Putin for calling and sending warm wishes on my 75th birthday. We are committed to further strengthening our special and priority strategic partnership. India is ready to make all possible contributions to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine."

He also posted the final post on the official account of the Kremlin Palace. As of noon on 18th local time, the post had more than 5.7 million views and more than 110,000 views.

In recent years, as India has increased its oil purchases from Russia, the cooperation between the two countries has become closer. The United States is quite dissatisfied with this.

Since August 27, the United States has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on goods exported from India to the United States.

However, this has not stopped India from trading with Russia. India emphasized that it will give priority to national interests and energy security.

As the Russian-Ukrainian conflict continues, Indian-Russian security defense cooperation is also strengthened.

Recently, India sent a special contingent of 65 military personnel to participate in the joint Russian and Belarusian military exercises "West-2025".

India¡¯s involvement has strengthened ties with Russia in the field of defence and contributed to fostering mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries.

"Birthday Diplomacy"

In addition to Putin, on the 17th, Australian Prime Minister Albani, European Commission President Von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Meloni, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, former British Prime Minister Sunak and other current and former leaders have called Modi to send birthday congratulations.

The day before, U.S. President Trump first spoke to Modi to congratulate him on his birthday, which sparked speculation about the "warming up" of the relations between the two countries.

Trump said on social media, ¡°I just had a great call with my friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I wish him a happy birthday! he did a great job. Narendra: Thank you for your support for ending the war in Ukraine!¡±

During the conversation, US and Indian leaders exchanged views on major global issues such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations.

Modi responded on social media on the 16th: "Thank you to my friend President Trump for calling me on my 75th birthday and sending me warm greetings. Like you, I will also be committed to bringing the comprehensive global partnership between India and America to new heights.We support your initiative for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine."

Looking at the international stage, "birthday diplomacy" is rare.Modi has more than once sent birthday greetings to Pakistani leaders during periods of tension in India-Pakistan relations.

Nowadays, a series of blessings from overseas not only add luster to Modi's birthday, but also are regarded as a manifestation of India's rising international influence.

But there was a lot of noise in the blessing.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Karas warned on Monday that India's continued purchase of Russian oil and participation in joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus could become an obstacle to deepening relations between the EU and India and shadow the prospects for cooperation between the two countries.

But Karas also acknowledged that the EU does not believe that India will be completely "disconnected" from Russia, so the two sides are still seeking to resolve the issues through dialogue.

Author: An Zheng, Liberation Daily