Heaping praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin called him a “very wise man”, adding that India is making great strides in development under his leadership, Russia-based media RT reported.

Vladimir Putin also expressed hope for further cooperation between Russia and India in the field of financial security and the fight against cybercrime.

According to a video shared by RT news platform, Vladimir Putin said during an event, “We share very good political relations with Prime Minister Modi, he is a very wise man. And India has been making very great strides in development under his leadership. This fully meets the interest of both India and Russia to work on this agenda”

His remarks come close on the heels of the adoption New Delhi Declaration at the G20 Summit in India.

Significantly, the declaration called for establishing peace in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine but didn’t put the blame on Russia, marking a sharp drift from the previous Bali Declaration.