Monday, May 9 2005 20:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: Describing Russia as India's "time-tested" friend, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (May 9, 2005) highlighted the need for further advancing strategic bilateral ties during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

"Russia is our time-tested friend and the people of all walks of life in India see Russia as our friend and recognise the strategic importance of ties with it," the Prime Minister, who is on a three-day visit to Moscow, told Putin during their one-to-one meeting.

Warmly receiving Singh, the Russian President thanked him for attending the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Nazi defeat in World War-II by Allied forces.

"Thank you once more, that you are celebrating with us our great holiday - the victory in Great Patriotic War," Putin said in his opening remarks.

Observing that India attached great importance to its close relations with Russia, Singh said New Delhi desired to further consolidate the bilateral ties.

This is the second meeting between the two leaders in six months after Putin's visit to Delhi last December.

The Kremlin attaches considerable significance to Singh's visit which builds on the achievements during Putin's trip to India last year and provides a new opportunity for the two sides to review the current state of Indo-Russian cooperation and set the guidelines for their further development.

Singh's visit to Moscow is an "important event" in Indo-Russian ties, "which have significantly advanced due to the agreements reached during Vladimir Putin's India visit in December 2004," Itar-Tass quoted Kremlin sources as saying.

"The Russian side highly values the intensive and trustful dialogue with India, which reflects the mutual readiness of Moscow and New Delhi to further strengthen and expand the strategic partnership," a Kremlin official said.