Prime Minister Narendra Modi
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here for a two-day high-profile visit to Russia, where he will have summit talks with President Vladimir Putin to review all aspects of bilateral ties and seek further cooperation in sectors like trade, energy, and defence.
It is Modi’s first trip to Russia in over five years. His last visit to Russia was in 2019 for an economic conclave in Vladivostok.
During the 22nd India-Russia annual summit on Tuesday, Modi and Putin are likely to discuss ways to further expand bilateral relations in diverse areas, including trade, energy, and defence.
In his departure statement, PM Modi said, “The special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia has advanced over the past 10 years, including in areas of energy, security, trade, investment, health, education, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges”.
“I look forward to reviewing all aspects of bilateral cooperation with my friend President Vladimir Putin and sharing perspectives on various regional and global issues”, PM Modi continued.
He went on to say, “We seek to play a supportive role for a peaceful and stable region”.
The annual summit between India’s Prime Minister and Russia’s President is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the two nations’ strategic cooperation.
So far, 21 annual summits have occurred alternatively in India and Russia.
The last summit took place on December 6, 2021, in New Delhi. President Putin had India to attend the summit. Putin has made nine visits to India as head of the Russian state.
On September 16, 2022, Prime Minister Modi and President Putin had bilateral meetings on the fringes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
During the meeting, Modi had famously asked Putin to halt the war in Ukraine saying, “Today’s era is not of war”.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Prime Minister Modi has had several telephonic conversations with Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In light of its strong friendship with Russia, India has not yet denounced Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and has maintained that the problem must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
In Russia, the prime minister will also meet the flourishing Indian community.
Modi will travel from Russia to Austria on Tuesday, the first time an Indian prime minister has visited the country in almost 40 years.
Also read: Russian Strikes Destroy Ukrainian Children’s Hospital, Kill 20
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