Rising India Summit: Why Ruchir Sharma won't be visiting Russia anytime soon

Ruchir Sharma

Morgan Stanley  Investment Management's Chief Global Strategist Ruchir Sharma does not see Russia inviting him over in the near future.

In the recently concluded News18 Rising India Summit, the head of the Emerging Markets Equity team at Morgan Stanley Investment Management spoke about how he once gave a talk on Russia's economy in the presence of Russia's president Vladimir Putin.

Sharma had said that when Putin began his tenure as president, he used to be a 'reformer', but things took a turn for the worse somewhere down the road. He had said there was a stark contrast in the Putin of today and what he was initially.

Putin, known for his ability to keep a straight face, did exactly that as he took notes throughout the course of Sharma's talk. After the ace investor was done speaking, the Russian President went up on stage spoke about  aspects of Sharma's critique.

Sharma was happy that Putin took his points seriously. What he wasn't, however, was prepared for what happened the following day.

Early next morning, Sharma got phone calls asking him to check the newspapers. The headlines read: “Who is this man advising Putin?” The newspapers were not happy with Sharma and the spirit in which he spoke, and advised him to leave the country.

“I left Russia and never returned,” Sharma told CNBC TV18's Shereen Bhan at the Summit on Saturday.

When asked whether he was willing to advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "I would rather observe, than advise." He added that no one would quite listen to his suggestions.