4 days ago
Russian Prez Putin to visit India for annual summit, but dates not finalised yet
NEW DELHI: A specific timeframe has not been finalised for Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposed visit to India for an annual summit, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives Russian President Vladimir Putin for a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi in December 2021. (PTI FILE IMAGE)
Putin's visit figured during National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's meetings with senior Russian officials in Moscow on Thursday. Russia's state-run media inaccurately cited Doval as saying that Putin would travel to India in late August, the people said on condition of anonymity.
'The NSA, during his visit to Moscow, said that the dates of President Putin's visit to India are being worked out,' one of the people cited above said.
'The time of end-August being reported is incorrect,' the person said.
Doval did not indicate a specific date or time during his engagements in Moscow, the people said.
Putin is expected to travel to India this year for the annual India-Russia Summit, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow for the summit in 2024. Though the two sides have been involved in initial preparations for the visit, they have so far not finalised any specific timeframe for the trip, the people said.
Doval is in Moscow for meetings with senior Russian officials to strengthen security and economic ties. The trip had been scheduled earlier but gained importance following US President Donald Trump's decision on Wednesday to impose an additional 25% punitive tariff on India for purchasing Russian oil.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar is also expected to travel to Russia in the third week of August for a meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), the primary mechanism for overseeing trade and economic cooperation.
