Putin likely to visit India Dec 5-6 for annual summit; ties review expected

NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to visit India in the first week of Dec for the 23rd India-Russia annual summit .

Diplomatic sources said the two sides are considering Dec 5-6 as dates for the visit. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to India next month to finalise the agenda for the summit.

This will be Putin’s first India visit since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in Feb 2022. Putin last visited India in Dec 2021 for the annual summit that is held alternatively in India and Russia. PM Modi travelled to Moscow for the last summit in July last year.

India-Russia summit key opportunity to review ties
During his visit, Modi stressed before Putin that no solution can be found on the battlefield. The leaders last met on the margins of the SCO summit. Modi hopped into Putin’s car for an informal chat that lasted for almost 45 minutes.The summit is a key opportunity to review bilateral ties in trade, energy, connectivity, and joint defence manufacturing, as India faces US penalties for energy ties with Moscow. India last week denied NATO chief Mark Rutte’s claim that US tariffs pushed Modi to confront Putin on Ukraine strategy.

Russian deputy ambassador Roman Babushkin was quoted as saying earlier that Russia is the only country that can offer to India “sophisticated weapons like 5th generation fighter jets, common joint production of its components & licensed production”.

India and Russia on Wednesday held a meeting of their Special Mechanism on Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss regional security issues. “We are preparing for Putin’s visit to India in Dec. We meet regularly bilaterally and on the sidelines of international events,” said India’s deputy NSA Pavan Kapoor in Moscow, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.