Russian Prez to visit India soon: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India soon, the Kremlin said today.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We are looking forward to the visit. The dates will be mutually worked out soon.”

The visit, which is likely to be early next year, will be part of a laid down structure between the two countries for reciprocal annual visits by their leaders.

The announcement of Vladimir Putin’s visit to India came on the day Russia updated its nuclear doctrine for the second time, allowing Moscow to target non-nuclear states should the need arise.

President Vladimir Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during his visit.

The two leaders had last met during PM Modi’s visit to Kazan in Russia for the BRICS Summit in late October. At that meeting, Modi had reiterated that India supports “dialogue and diplomacy” and not war. Though Modi had not named the ongoing conflicts like Russia-Ukraine or the one in West Asia, he said “we support dialogue and diplomacy, not war”.

The BRICS, he said, was fully capable of creating new opportunities for a safe, strong and prosperous future for the coming generation.