Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting at the Taj Exotic Hotel on October 15, 2016 in Benaulim, Goa, India.
Mikhail Svetlov | News Getty Images | Getty Images
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, marking his first visit to the Kremlin since the invasion of Ukraine.
Their meeting is significant as it is the Indian prime minister’s first bilateral trip abroad since he was re-elected to a rare third term in June.
The two leaders are set to strengthen the development of “traditionally friendly relations between Russia and India,” as well as discuss “current issues on the international and regional agenda.” the Kremlin said Last week.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for the two sides to review a range of bilateral issues — from defense and trade, to investment ties and energy cooperation, Indian Foreign Minister Vinay Kwatra said. at a media briefing the manufacture.
On the agenda
Russia and India will also assess the status of bilateral engagements in groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Group of 20, the BRICS bloc of developing countries, the United Nations and the East Asia Summit, Kwatra said.
“The issue of early dismissal of Indian nationals who have been misled into the service of the Russian army is also expected to come up in the discussions,” Kwatra added.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted a series of sanctions from the Group of 7, as well as other countries, as world leaders sought to cut off or limit Moscow’s ability to finance the war. The Kremlin insisted on calling the invasion a “special military operation”.
India avoided outright criticism of Putin, but did so took a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukrainewhile urging both sides to end the war. New Delhi, however, condemned the killing of civilians early in the conflict in Ukraine, but did not blame Russia.
Modi’s visit to the Kremlin comes on the heels of his own meeting with G7 leaders in Italy last month, where the bloc of industrialized countries — made up of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom — agreed to finance Ukraine’s war against Russia with profits from frozen Kremlin assets.
Historical ties between India and Russia
India and Russia have they shared a long-standing security partnership since the Cold War period, with New Delhi’s armed forces heavily dependent on Moscow for military equipment.
Modi’s last visit to Russia was in 2019, when he visited the eastern port of Vladivostok for an economic forum. The two last met in person in 2022 at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in Uzbekistan, where Modi had told the Russian president it was not a time of war, but did not condemn his actions in Ukraine.
Russia, like the US, has its own place in India’s foreign policy, India’s former foreign minister Kanwal Sibal said in a recent post on the social networking platform, X.
“Neither India nor the global south consider Putin an international pariah,” added the former ambassador to Russia.
India’s bilateral trade with Russia grew by 33% in the fiscal year ending March 2024, reaching an all-time high of $65.7 billion. However, trade remains unbalanced, Kwatra pointed out.
India’s exports to Russia were $4.26 billion, while imports from the Kremlin stood at close to $61.44 billion, according to official figures.
After his two-day visit to Russia, Modi will proceed to Vienna, Austria on Tuesday, in what would be the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 41 years.
