EAM to visit Moscow as ties with West see rocky phase
Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, December 18
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Moscow towards the end of the week, his first visit to Russia in over a year at a time when differences have erupted between the South Block and the West over the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the alleged attempt to kill another separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The visit would cover talks on bilateral and multilateral issues, including trade and connectivity as well as coordination in multilateral organisations such as BRICS, G20 and SCO.
Interest also centres on whether Russian President Valdimir Putin and PM Narendra Modi will schedule a bilateral meeting in the coming months. Their earlier resolve to hold a structured review of bilateral ties every year couldn’t happen last year due to the Ukraine war.
India would also like to know Moscow’s views on admitting Pakistan as a BRICS member. The MEA has hinted that India could put a spanner in the proposal while the view from Moscow is that there should be no cause for concern because Islamabad is already a member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
He will also seek to understand Russia’s views on New Delhi’s burgeoning military ties with Armenia that seems to be drifting towards the US.
