Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Indian PM Narendra Modi's ‘Make in India’ campaign and said he is doing the "right thing" in promoting it.

Speaking on a query made on Russian-manufactured cars during the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), Putin said that domestically manufactured automobiles should be used and referred to the Indian government's policy on it.

"You know, we did not have domestically made cars then, but we do now. It is true that they look more modest than Mercedes or Audi cars, which we bought in vast amounts in the 1990s, but this is not an issue," Putin said.

"I think that we should emulate many of our partners, for example, India. They are focused on the manufacture and use of Indian-made vehicles. I think that Prime Minister Modi is doing the right thing in promoting the Make in India programme. He is right," he said.

"We have [Russian-made] automobiles, and we must use them; this is absolutely fine. This will not lead to any infringements of our WTO obligations, absolutely not," Putin said.

"It will concern state purchases. We must create a certain chain regarding what cars different classes of officials can drive, so that they will use domestically-made cars," he said.

The 8th Eastern Economic Forum 2023 is taking place on 10–13 September 2023 in Vladivostok on the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) campus.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.