Mr Putin was invited to be the main guest at celebrations marking the occasion.
The President attended a military parade in the morning, arriving in one car with Indian President Abdul Kalam, accompanied by cavalry guards.
Mr Putin later awarded Russian state decorations – the Order of Friendship – to Indian public and political figures. Nirmala Deshpande, member of the Indian parliament’s upper house and member of the India-Russia Friendship Society’s executive committee, and Sankar Basu, director of the Centre for Russian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, received decorations, and D.Kapoor, the Indian co-chairman of the Dialogue of Civilisations Foundation, received the St. Andrei the First-Called International Prize. Mr Putin noted that the Dialogue of Civilisations Foundation makes a great contribution to developing Russian-Indian relations and helps to spread the invaluable experience of tolerant relations between different ethnic groups, faiths and religions. The award ceremony took place at the Russian embassy in Delhi.
Mr Putin’s official visit to India ended with an official reception hosted by Indian President Abdul Kalam to celebrate the Republic Day national holiday.