Putin greets Manmohan Singh on his 75th birthday

Moscow, Sep 26 (UNI) Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his 75th birthday today.

''Russia has known you as an authoritative statesman and a well-known scholar and initiator of large-scale reforms that helped India enter the 21st century as a country with a dynamically growing economy,'' President Putin told Dr Singh during a telephonic conversation initiated by the Russian side.

''We highly value your great personal contribution in strengthening the diversified strategic partnership between Russia and India,'' he said, adding, ''I warmly recall our meetings, invariably marked by goodwill, constructiveness and sincerity, typical of Russian-Indian relations.'' Both the leaders discussed preparations for the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Moscow in November, including a series of talks at various levels to be held during the visit,'' the Kremlin press service reported.

''I will be happy to see you in Moscow at the next Russian-Indian summit,'' the Russian President said.

UNI