India and Russia planning timeline for Putin’s visit – New Delhi
The Russian leader was invited to visit the South Asian nation by his counterpart Narendra Modi last year
India and Russia are working on finalizing a timeline for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the Russian leader to visit his country for their next bilateral meeting during last year’s BRICS summit in Kazan.
“So, this year it is our turn to host the annual summit. Those dates will be worked out through diplomatic channels,” Jaiswal told reporters.
The practice of the two countries holding annual summits was established in 2000, when they signed a declaration on strategic partnership. A decade later, the relationship was elevated to “special and privileged strategic partnership.”
The Russian president last visited India in December 2021. The most recent bilateral summit was in Moscow in July last year. Modi visited Russia for a second time in October to take part in the BRICS summit in Kazan. During the visit, Modi highlighted Russia’s contributions to promoting multilateralism, sustainable development, and global governance reforms. The two leaders also discussed and reviewed their countries’ cooperation in several key areas, such as politics, the economy, defense, energy, and people-to-people exchanges.
Despite sustained pressure from its Western partners, New Delhi has chosen not to cut its ties with Moscow since the escalation of Ukraine crisis. It also has not joined anti-Russian sanctions.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar suggested in November last year that friendly relations between Moscow and New Delhi are an important element of international stability. The minister defended New Delhi’s decision to increase oil purchases from Russia after the US and its allies slapped Moscow with unprecedented sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, which targeted Russia’s financial sector and international trade.
India has become a major buyer of Russian oil, with bilateral trade reaching $65 billion in 2023 – more than a five-fold increase compared to 2021 figures. During their summit in Moscow, Putin and Modi agreed to increase trade to over $100 billion by 2030.
In November, Modi also met with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov in New Delhi to discuss trade, economic ties, energy, and connectivity. Modi praised the joint efforts of both countries toward implementing agreements reached during his summit with the Russian leader.
Putin received Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in Moscow in December. During the meeting, Singh stated that “despite the geopolitical challenges and immense public and private pressure on India” New Delhi had made a “conscious decision” to not only continue ties with Russia but also “to deepen and expand our cooperation.”
