During the Russian President’s visit, it is learnt that a number of agreements are likely to be signed between the two countries….reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to visit India in December for the annual bilateral summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ahead of the summit, India and Russia may hold the inaugural two-plus-two foreign and defence ministerial dialogue for which date and venue are yet to be finalized.
The two-plus-two dialogue is considered to add new momentum to the overall special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries.
During the Russian President’s visit, it is learnt that a number of agreements are likely to be signed between the two countries.
The visit to India will be the second foreign trip by Russian President Putin this year after his visit to Geneva for the summit-level meeting with US President Joe Biden in June.
The visit will take place even as the first batch of the S-400 air defence system will be reaching India by the end of this year. In 2018, Putin had last visited India for the annual summit.
India had procured the S-400 system from Russia in 2018 for $5.2 billion. Russia will deliver the first lot in December this year. It will be the main pillar of the Indian Air Force’s defence grid.
Last year, the annual summit could not take place due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Japan and Russia are the only two countries with which India has an annual summit-level mechanism that alternates between the respective countries.
India and Russia have so far conducted twenty annual summit meetings.
In 2019, Prime Minister Modi had visited the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and was also the guest of honour for the fifth Eastern Economic Forum, where India had announced a $1bn worth of credit line to boost Indian business participation in Russia’s development.
