Russian President Putin to discuss India visit with PM Modi during China meet, says Kremlin
Russian President Putin will meet PM Narendra Modi on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Tianjin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss "preparation for the December visit" to India during the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in China, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov has said.
The two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Tianjin on Monday.
Putin's visit to India in December comes amid growing ties between the two countries and after the US imposed tariffs on New Dehli over its purchases of Russian oil.
“Preparations for our president's upcoming visit to India at the very end of the year, in December, will be discussed,” Sputnik quoted Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov as saying.
“Within the framework of the SCO and SCO + summits, a number of bilateral meetings of our president are planned. More than 10 meetings have already been scheduled,” Ushakov added.
Putin will visit China from August 31-September 3 for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.
The meeting between Modi and Putin comes amid the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on India, including 25 per cent penalty tariffs on account of India's purchase of Russian oil.
The energy incomes are a key source of revenue for Moscow's state budget, AFP reported.
Since Moscow's military assault on Ukraine in 2022, the latter's Western allies have pushed towards cutting off of Russia's export earnings. However, Russia has compensated for the loss of energy sales from Europe by redirecting them to other countries including India and China.
Vladimir Putin's visit to India
A specific timeframe had not been arrived at for Putin's visit to India for an annual summit with PM Modi, according to people familiar with the matter.
Putin's visit had come up during National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's meetings with top Russian officials earlier this month in Moscow.
The people said that NSA Doval, during his Moscow visit, said that the dates of Putin's visit were still being finalised, while providing no indications of the specific date or time for the visit.
Earlier this year in March, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov had said that Putin accepted the invitation extended by PM Modi. “It is symbolic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first bilateral foreign visit after his re-election last year to Russia,” Lavrov said.
“Now it is our turn…The visit of the head of the Russian state to...India is being prepared,” Lavrov added.
