Putin gifts Modi Gandhi’s notes, Indian sword

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin presented visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a page from the diary of Mahatma Gandhi and an 18th-century Indian sword, an official statement said today.

Putin presented the items to Modi while hosting the latter for a private dinner on Wednesday evening

"President Putin presented to the Prime Minister a page from the diary of Mahatma Gandhi. The page contains Gandhiji's handwritten notes," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Putin also gifted Modi a late 18th-century Indian sword from Bengal province that features intricate silver artwork.

Modi arrived in Moscow on Wednesday to a red carpet welcome for a two-day visit during which he will attend the 16th India-Russia annual summit meeting.

During this visit, a raft of agreements spanning a broad spectrum of sectors is expected to be signed following summit-level talks on Thursday between the two countries with trade being a major focus area.

Modi and Putin are scheduled to meet a delegation of Indian and Russian CEOs in the Kremlin.

Modi will address a gathering of Friends of India and also meet members of the Indian community in Russia.

The Prime Minister's itinerary includes a visit to Russia's National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in Moscow today.

The NCMC is a multi-level coordination centre designed to provide inter-agency coordination and alert the people about the threat of emergency situations. The capabilities of the NCMC include state-of-the-art real-time monitoring, data collection, analysis and modelling.(IANS)