By N.C. Bipindra,IANS,
Moscow : Amidst public protests in Russia over the results of the Dec 4 Duma polls and the opposition allegations of electoral fraud, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday expressed his “deep felicitations” to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the conduct of the parliamentary polls that resulted in a reduced majority for the ruling United Russia Party.
Singh’s felicitations were conveyed by him to Medvedev during their bilateral talks here as part of the 12th summit meeting between the two nations.
“Our summit has taken place just after the elections to the Russian State Duma, for which I conveyed my deep felicitations to President Medvedev,” Singh said in a joint press conference here addressed by him along with the Russian president.
The elections had caused a major controversy in Russia with the opposition and some observers alleging rigging.
Though there were reports of large scale protests in the days immediately after the elections, the Moscow streets are relatively quieter now, as Singh arrived for the summit meeting Thursday evening. He is returning to India Saturday.
After a massive protest last Saturday at Moscow’s Bolotnaya Ploshchad where an estimated 50,000 people gathered, the situation is relatively peaceful here. But the discontent is simmering, according to observers of the events of the last fortnight.
Singh is slated to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is the focus of the public anger over the Duma polls, later Friday evening at the latter’s residence here.