NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated President Vladimir Putin on his victory in Russia’s presidential election, saying he looked forward to further strengthening the special relationship between the two sides.

Putin won the election by an overwhelming majority, though the result was a foregone conclusion. He won 87.3% of the vote following a record turnout of 77.5%, Russia’s Central Election Commission said on Monday.

“Warm congratulations to H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin on his re-election as the President of the Russian Federation,” Modi said in a post on X.

“Look forward to working together to further strengthen the time-tested Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia in the years to come,” he added.

Putin’s nearest rival, Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party, won only 4.3% of the votes counted.

The electoral victory will tighten Putin’s grip on power in Russia, which he has ruled since the turn of the century. He is now expected to remain in office until at least 2030, making him Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Speaking at his election headquarters on Sunday, Putin said the polls “consolidated” national unity and there are “many tasks ahead” for Russia.

“No matter how hard anyone tries to frighten us, whoever tries to suppress us, our will, our consciousness, no one has ever managed to have done such a thing in history, and it won’t happen now and it won’t happen in the future,” Putin said.

Russia continues to be one of the main suppliers of defence hardware to India, which has moved to diversify the sources of such equipment by concluding big-ticket deals with the US, France and Israel in recent years. Moscow also emerged as one of the leading suppliers of energy after India snapped up discounted Russian crude when Western states slapped sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.