"Our Defence Ministries maintain very close contacts and cooperation. It speaks about a very high strategic level of our partnership," Putin was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.

The Russian leader also hailed joint activities of the two countries in the area of foreign politics, in particular within the UN, BRICS (an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

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Modi's nine-hour tour came after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale visited Moscow earlier this month to discuss a way out of the US sanctions on Russian firms.

Putin is also expected to visit India later this year for the annual bilateral summit.

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