New Delhi, Dec 5: Hailing India-Russia ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the friendship between the two countries has remained like a pole star amidst the ups and downs faced by the world in the past 80 years.

While making a joint press statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday, PM Modi said that the ties between two nations have stood the test of time and thanked Putin for his friendship and unwavering commitment to India while recalling the efforts made by the Russian leadership to elevate bilateral ties.

“Today, I am delighted to welcome President Putin to the 23rd India-Russia Summit today. His visit comes at a time when our bilateral relations are experiencing several historic milestones. 25 years back, President Putin laid the foundation for our strategic partnership. 15 years ago, in 2010, our partnership was granted the status of a Special Privileged Strategic Partnership. For the past two and a half decades, he (President Putin) has nurtured this relationship with his leadership and vision.

“His (President Putin) leadership, under all circumstances, has elevated our ties to new heights. I express my heartfelt gratitude to President Putin, my friend, for this deep friendship and unwavering commitment to India. The world has seen many ups and downs over the past eight decades. Humanity has faced many challenges and crises and amidst all this, the India-Russia friendship has remained like a pole star. This relationship, founded on mutual respect and deep trust, has always stood the test of time,” he added.

Recalling recent heinous terror attacks in both countries, PM Modi said that India and Russia have stood together in the fight against terrorism.

“Today we also discussed regional and global issues. India and Russia have long cooperated shoulder to shoulder in the fight against terrorism. Whether it’s the terrorist attack in Pahalgam or the cowardly attack on Crocus City Hall — the root of all these incidents is the same. India firmly believes that terrorism is a direct attack on the values ​​of humanity and global unity against it (terrorism) is our greatest strength.”

PM Modi announced that India and Russia will cooperate to train Indian seafarers in polar waters. “We will now cooperate to train Indian seafarers in polar waters. This will not only strengthen our cooperation in the Arctic, but will also create new employment opportunities for India’s youth.”

Reiterating India’s stance on Ukraine conflict, he said, “India has advocated for peace in Ukraine from the very beginning. We welcome all efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to this issue. India has always been ready to contribute and will continue to do so.”

PM Modi also termed energy security as a strong and important pillar of India-Russia partnership. He stated that cooperation between India and Russia in civil nuclear energy has been crucial in realising shared clean energy priorities.

“Energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership. Our decades-old cooperation in civil nuclear energy has been crucial in realising our shared clean energy priorities. We will continue this win-win cooperation. Our cooperation in critical minerals is crucial to ensuring secure and diversified supply chains across the world,” stated PM Modi.

Earlier, taking the India-Russia Special and Privileged Partnership ahead, PM Modi warmly welcomed President Putin at the Hyderabad House to participate in the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.

With both countries sharing a longstanding and time-tested bond, the two leaders are holding comprehensive and detailed discussions aimed at further strengthening the bilateral relations.

Hyderabad, Dec 5: Utter chaos continued at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Friday as IndiGo Airlines cancelled 92 flights for the day.

For the fourth consecutive day, the airline cancelled flights, causing severe inconvenience to thousands of passengers.

A total of 92 IndiGo flights have been cancelled for the day, an airport spokesman said. These include 43 arrivals and 49 departures.

This is the highest number of flights to be cancelled in four days. The airline had cancelled 74 flights on Thursday.

A total of 220 flights have been cancelled since December 2.

The cancellations for the fourth consecutive day triggered a protest by passengers at the terminal building. Angry passengers had heated arguments with the IndiGo staff.

A group of passengers was seen surrounding an official of the airline, seeking replies to their queries. Passengers complained that flights were cancelled after check-in.

The cancellations on key domestic routes severely disrupted the travel plans of the passengers for the fourth consecutive day.

A large number of passengers remained stranded at the airport. Long queues were seen outside and inside the terminal. Tempers were running high in the terminal building as angry passengers confronted the airline staff. Some were asking why the airline scheduled the flights when the staff was not available. Frustrated passengers had a heated argument with the staff and even raised slogans of ‘shame’.

Departures and arrivals on key domestic routes like Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Goa, Madurai and Bhubaneswar severely inconvenienced passengers.

A large number of Ayappa devotees were also stranded due to the cancellation of flights to Kochi. As a mark of protest, the devotees were seen chanting slogans of “Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa”.

Andhra Pradesh Minister Kolusu Partha Sarathy, who was at the airport to board a flight to Vijayawada, intervened to help Ayyappa devotees. He spoke to Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu over the phone to arrange a special flight.

The minister, who missed his flight to Vijayawada, later left by road.

Meanwhile, eight IndiGo flights were cancelled at Visakhapatnam airport. With flights to key destinations like Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad getting cancelled, passengers lodged their protest with the airline staff.

IndiGo attributed the disruption to ‘a multitude of unforeseen operational challenges’ including minor technology glitches, winter-season driven schedule changes, adverse weather, increased congestion in the aviation system and the implementation of updated Flight Duty Time Limitations for crew.

RGIA authorities have advised passengers to check the latest status of their flights with their respective airlines before heading to the airport.

Mumbai, Dec 5: Indian equity markets opened slightly lower on Friday, as investors awaited the Reserve Bank of India’s key interest rate decision.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce the repo rate at 10 AM after concluding its three-day meeting, keeping traders cautious at the start of the session.

At the opening bell, the Sensex was at 85,187, down 79 points or 0.09 per cent. The Nifty also saw a mild decline, slipping 12 points or 0.05 per cent to 26,021.

Several heavyweight stocks dragged the market, with Reliance Industries, Trent, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Sun Pharma and Titan trading in the red.

On the other hand, companies like Eternal, BEL, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and Ultratech Cement were among the top gainers, offering some support to the benchmarks.

In the broader market, sentiment remained soft as the Nifty MidCap index edged down 0.07 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index fell 0.30 per cent.

Sector-wise, pharma and metal stocks were under pressure, with both indices declining 0.3 per cent.

However, real estate stocks bucked the trend, helping the Nifty Realty index gain 0.28 per cent.

Analysts said that the markets traded cautiously ahead of the RBI’s policy outcome, with investors keeping a close watch on the central bank’s commentary and the interest rate outlook.

Rupee’s sharp recovery yesterday to 89.97 from the low of 90.42 is signalling some sort of stability in the currency market.

“RBI governor’s views on the rupee today will significantly influence the near-term direction of the currency,” analysts said.