Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will arrive in India, today for a two-day bilateral visit, which will provide a chance to discuss bilateral relations and review arrangements for the upcoming India-Russia annual summit later this year. During his visit, he will be meeting his Indian counterpart EAM S Jaishankar. He is also expected to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the visit will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address important aspects of bilateral relations, as well as the arrangements for the next India-Russia annual summit. Perhaps regional and foreign topics of common concern will be discussed as well.
The meeting is expected to cover a wide range of topics, including the Afghan peace process and the Quad meet. Following this meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister will soon visit Pakistan to meet with his counterpart, which could be viewed as a larger picture to address Afghanistan’s issue.
It is expected that Lavrov’s visit will soon be followed by the Russian President. The annual summit between India and Russia was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both countries have a system in place where the prime minister of India and the president of Russia meet once a year to discuss the entire range of relations.
“The heads of the foreign affairs agencies will address the current state of bilateral relations, the preparation of the upcoming high-level meeting this year, including cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, will consider key topics on the regional, global agenda, assess approaches to the relationship between Russia and India on the international stage,” the Russian Embassy in India said in a statement.
