Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive here on December 6 for the 21st India-Russia annual summit. This will be the first in-person meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Putin since the beginning of the pandemic in late 2019. The visit will coincide with the India-Russia “2+2” meeting of the Foreign and Defence Ministers.
“The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership. The summit will also afford an opportunity to exchange views on regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest,” said the Ministry of External Affairs.
The last face-to-face meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi took place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Brazil in November, 2019. They have since held six rounds of telephone conversations apart from attending virtual multilateral meetings on different occasions.
The upcoming summit is of particular significance as Moscow is in the midst of delivering the S400 missile defence systems to India. The Ministry said the “2+2” meeting will be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. The Indian side will be represented by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
.png?w=600)
