India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Moscow to explore ways of strengthening the countries’ ‘special and privileged’ strategic partnership.
The two sides highlighted the importance of working together ahead of this year’s bilateral summit and discussed Russia–India cooperation in multilateral platforms, along with major global security concerns.
In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian Embassy in India posted, “On August 7, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergey Shoigu held talks with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval. The parties discussed ways to further strengthen the Russia-India special and privileged strategic partnership and emphasized the importance of joint efforts in preparation of the bilateral summit by the end of this year. They also discussed cooperation between Russia and India in multilateral formats and exchanged views on topical issues of international security.”
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin received Doval at the Kremlin, signalling the continuing growth of the relationship between New Delhi and Moscow.
The talks, attended by senior Russian officials including Shoigu and Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, come ahead of Putin’s planned visit to India later this month for the annual summit.
From India, Ambassador Vinay Kumar joined the discussions, which focused on regional security, defence collaboration, and preparations for the leadership-level meeting.
The Kremlin called the talks ‘constructive’, noting that the dialogue between the two nations is ongoing despite changes in the global political climate.
“We have now established very good relations, which we value very much – a strategic partnership between our countries,” Doval told Shoigu, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Doval also welcomed news of Putin’s scheduled visit to India in late August.
Presidential aide Ushakov confirmed that the trip is being arranged under the tradition of holding an annual summit.
“Our leaders have an agreement to meet once a year. This time, it is our turn,” Ushakov said, referring to the rotating format of the India–Russia leadership dialogue.
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