NEW DELHI: Despite the conflict in Ukraine dragging and constant pressure from Western nations “to curtail tes with Moscow”, India has affirmed its relationship with Russia. There is strong bilateral trade between the two nations and in a bid to bolster this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Moscow next week (November 7 to 8).
He will meet his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and also the trade minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Jaishankar and Lavrov met four times in 2021. Besides, Prime Minister Modi and other senior ministers like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have met their Russian counterparts regularly.
Russia announced Jaishankar’s visit last week.
“The external affairs minister will meet his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia. Discussions are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues as well as exchange of views on various regional and international developments,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.
“The external affairs minister will also meet Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC),” Bagchi said.