The Indian PM is set to embark on his first trip to Moscow since the Ukraine conflict began
New Delhi on Friday disclosed key details of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Russia for the 22nd bilateral summit between the two countries. It will be the Indian leader’s first bilateral summit since getting re-elected for a third term last month.
Modi will reach Moscow late in the afternoon on Monday, following which he will attend a private dinner hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The following day, the prime minister will meet people from the Indian diaspora who live in the city, lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and visit an exhibition venue.
The upcoming visit will be Modi’s first to Russia since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The last bilateral meeting was held in 2021, when Putin visited New Delhi. New Delhi attaches “great importance” to the trip, Foreign Secretary of India Vinay Mohan Kwatra told media on Friday.
Later, the two leaders will hold “restricted level talks” followed by delegation-level talks, Kwatra revealed. He added that he “will review the entire range of multifaceted relations” and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest. The discussions on bilateral ties will cover defense cooperation, investment, education and culture, and people-to-people ties.
Modi is also expected to bring up the issue of Indians involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, asking for their safe return. According to reports, some Indians have been lured to the battlefront by human traffickers, who have offered them lucrative jobs. Last month, New Delhi announced that two Indian nationals had been killed, and urged its citizens to “exercise caution.”
After visiting Russia, Modi will travel to Austria, marking the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the European country in 41 years.
Ahead of Modi’s visit to Russia, foreign ministers S. Jaishankar and Sergey Lavrov held talks on bilateral issues on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana. They achieved significant progress on some of the issues and deals they had discussed during Jaishanakar’s December 2023 Moscow visit.
New Delhi has continued to maintain robust ties with Moscow despite enduring scrutiny from the West since the beginning of the conflict. Their bilateral trade totaled 65 billion last year, largely due to India’s increased buying of discounted Russian coal and oil.
Earlier this month, New Delhi refused to sign the final document at the Swiss peace summit on the Ukraine conflict because Russia hadn’t been invited to participate. While stressing that the conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, the Indian leadership has maintained that a potential solution must be agreed upon by both sides. India has also abstained from United Nations (UN) resolutions condemning Russia over Ukraine.
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