New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently attended the G7 summit in Italy where he held bilateral talks with several leaders and discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to reports, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Russia next month to meet his close ally, President Vladimir Putin. Russia is actively preparing for this high-profile visit. The whole world is closely tracking Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit, as this will be his first visit to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict. Experts suggest that the decisions taken during this visit could have a global impact. Western countries are particularly hoping that Prime Minister Modi may discuss the Ukraine war with President Putin. According to Reuters citing Russian state news agency RIA, Modi’s visit is likely to take place in July. The Kremlin statement mentioned that Prime Minister Modi was invited to Moscow in March.
In December last year, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar visited Moscow on a five-day visit during which he met President Putin. At that time, Putin had extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi, expressing his desire to discuss all current issues and bilateral relations. Putin told Jaishankar, “We will be happy to welcome our friend, Prime Minister Modi, to Russia. We can discuss all current issues and talk in detail about Russia-India relations. There is a lot of work to be done for both our countries.”
India’s stand on Ukraine conflict
According to a report by Russian news agency TASS, Putin stressed the need to boost trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, particularly focusing on crude oil supplies and technological cooperation. So far, India and Russia have held 21 summit meetings, the last of which took place in Delhi in 2021. Despite the Ukraine conflict, India-Russia relations remain strong. Notably, India has not condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine but has consistently advocated a diplomatic and dialogue-based solution to the conflict. Prime Minister Modi’s last visit to Russia was in 2019.