The Russian president has offered his full support to India in its fight against terrorism

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and strongly condemned the April terrorist attack in Kashmir.

Putin "conveyed deepest condolences on the loss of innocent lives and expressed full support to India in the fight against terrorism," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X. "He emphasised that the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their supporters must be brought to justice."

Twenty-six civilians were killed in the terrorist attack on April 22 in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam in India's Jammu and Kashmir union territory. The attack has led to a significant deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed countries.

During the Putin-Modi conversation, "the strategic nature of Russian-Indian relations of a special privileged partnership was emphasized," the Kremlin said in a statement. "These relations are not subject to external influence and continue to develop dynamically in all directions."

Modi also conveyed his best wishes to Putin on the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War 2, and invited the Russian president for an annual bilateral summit to be held in India later this year.

On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a conversation with his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar. The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement in which Lavrov emphasized the need for India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis, in line with the principles outlined in the 1972 Simla Agreement and the 1999 Lahore Declaration.

The agreements have historically served as frameworks for the two South Asian nations to address disputes through diplomatic channels.

The following day, Lavrov discussed the escalation oftensionsbetween Islamabad and New Delhi in a phone call initiated by his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Lavrov expressed Moscow's willingness to support peaceful efforts to ease the tensions. "The Russian side emphasized its readiness to assist in the political resolution of the situation that arose after the April 22 terrorist attack in the Pahalgam area, if there is mutual interest from Islamabad and New Delhi," the ministry said.

(RT.com)