Parwinder Sandhu
New Delhi, December 5, Launching the Russian television network RT India here Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that while India’s economic scale and partnership capabilities have transformed significantly over the years, the foundations of friendship and shared interests between the two nations remained unchanged.
Addressing the gathering during the launch of the state-run broadcaster, Putin said, “India’s economy has changed. India’s capabilities as a partner have changed. But there is one thing left: friendship and mutual interest in the development of our cooperation.”
Dubbing RT as a source of information that is “completely clean, and aimed at servicing the needs of its audiences”, the Russian President said that the goal of Russia Today is not propagandising Russian values, culture, stances in domestic, in foreign affairs, but rather “truthful information” about Russia and the world.
Referring to remarks made earlier by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan about the channel being shut down in some countries, Putin said such actions stem not from technical or regulatory reasons but from a fear of uncomfortable truths coming out.
“It’s not a malicious intent, that they’re doing this because they’re afraid to learn the truth,” he said.
“Russia Today, first and foremost, strives to communicate to its viewers truthful information about our country and about what’s happening on the globe. And that’s the absolute value of Russia Today,” he added.
Putin also reminded the audience about the connection Russia shared with late actor Raj Kapoor.
“A lot of time has passed since the time of Raj Kapoor. India has changed dramatically. But back then I just recalled words from the song by Vladimir Vysotsky about Raj Kapoor. But there are other words, too. They said that earlier yogis fasted for a year … now they eat and drink everything,” Putin said in a lighter vein.
Earlier, RT India’s Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said while the channel faces restrictions, including outright bans and even legal repercussions for viewers in several countries, India has shown only goodwill towards RT, welcoming its presence in the country.
According to the outlet, the launch of the new channel marks a natural step in the development of bilateral relations and represents another major milestone for RT.
Bearing the launch slogan, “A New Voice from an Old Friend” and “The dialogue between our countries has been going on for decades. We’ve simply turned up the volume,” the channel’s India-arm’ handle on X carries the tagline: ‘Not Anti-Western… Just Not Western’.
First launched in 2005 with their Moscow-based division, RT was born in an effort to transform the Russian government’s image on the global platform. The channel will be based in Delhi and feature a fully functioning broadcast newsroom, and full teams of producers and reporters.
RT-India will come up with four daily English-language news bulletins in India. According to an official statement, the initiative is aimed at deepening India–Russia relations while projecting the expanding footprint of both nations in an increasingly multipolar world.
The groundwork for the India rollout was laid earlier this year during the 26th meeting of the India–Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation held in Moscow.
Putin says India has changed, but friendship with Russia remains strong
