Full calendar of engagements with Russia: MEA

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 6

India and Russia have a “full calendar” of interactions, including a summit meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin in October, said the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

Recalling that both leaders spoke on July 2, a day before Modi went to Leh, Srivastava said here on Thursday that the PM had congratulated Putin on the success in a nationwide referendum to change the constitution. Among the changes, Putin can run for another Presidential term in 2024.  

In the last week of June and less than a fortnight after the Galwan Valley clash, Defence Minister Rajnath had visited Moscow where he met key figures from the Russian military-industrial complex, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu and Deputy PM Yury Borisov besides the CEOs of Rostec Corporation and Rosoboronexport.

India has also placed orders worth approximately $7 billion on Russian military platforms after the LAC tensions.

The MEA spokesperson said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla spoke with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on Tuesday, followed by talks with Russian ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev on Wednesday. The conversations took place ahead of SCO and BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend both meetings while Pakistan FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi will attend the SCO meet.

Indo-Russia bilateral talks will also be held between the National Security Advisers and Defence Ministers, he added.

Immediately after troops from India and China had clashed at the border, at a press conference after the Russia-India-China Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had indicated a summit meeting of the current format could be held on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Saudi Arabia, the third time the three countries would do so. But nothing has been heard of the proposal since. However, the annual summit meeting between Modi and Putin is scheduled for October in India, provided the pandemic situation eases by then.