It hasn't exactly been a good few days for Vladimir Putin.
One of his proxies in the Middle East -- an eye doctor named Bashar al-Assad -- fled his country and sought sanctuary in Moscow, leaving Russia's military bases in Syria in grave peril.
Then his arch foe Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned up in Paris alongside Donald Trump with the US president-elect calling for the war in Ukraine to end.
But you wouldn't know that if you saw the video of Putin jauntily marching up to his meeting with our raksha mantri at the Kremlin on Tuesday, December 11, 2024.
IMAGE: Doesn't the usually dour Putin seem pleased to meet Rajnath Singh, here and below? All photographs: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Rajnath Singh's encounter with Putin took place on the sidelines of the 21st India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation.
'Friendship between our countries is higher than the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest ocean,' the defence minister told the Russian president.
'Friendship between our countries is higher than the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest ocean,' the defence minister told the Russian president.
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
