Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, his first visit to the Kremlin since the attack on Ukraine.

Their meeting assumes significance as it is the Indian Prime Minister’s first bilateral visit to another country after being re-elected for an extraordinary third term in June.

The two leaders are ready to discuss “topical issues on the international and regional agenda”, in addition to strengthening the improvement of “traditionally friendly relations between Russia and India”, the Kremlin said at a later moment.

Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary of the Republic of India, said at a media briefing on Friday that the meeting will provide an opportunity for both sides to study the dimensions of bilateral issues – from defense and industry to investment relations and endeavor cooperation.

Kwatra said Russia and India will also assess the state of bilateral engagement in groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Group, the Team of 20, the BRICS block of developing countries, the United Nations and the East Asia Summit.

“The issue of early release of Indian citizens misled into the service of the Russian Army is also expected to figure in the discussion,” Kwatra said.

Since March, India has sought to remove citizens it says were “tricked” into serving in the Russian military, after it was revealed that South Asians Classified as a “major human trafficking network”.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to a series of sanctions by a team of seven international locations, as well as other countries, as international leaders seek to curtail or limit Moscow’s ability to raise capital in the fight. want. The Kremlin has insisted on calling the offensive a “special military operation.”

India has avoided direct criticism of Putin, but has taken a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and urged both sides to end the war. On the other hand, Brandnew Delhi condemned the killing of civilians at the beginning of the Ukraine war, but did not blame Russia.

Modi’s visit to the Kremlin came later after his meeting with G7 leaders in Italy, where the group of industrialized countries – made up of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK – is expected to raise funds for income from frozen Kremlin assets. Ukraine’s fight against Russia was also sent to the Capitol Treasury.

India and Russia have shared a long-standing security cooperation partnership since the Cold War period, with New Delhi relying heavily on Moscow for military equipment.

Modi’s last visit to Russia was in 2019 when he visited the Far Eastern port Vladivostok for an economic discussion. The two later met in person at the 2022 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, where Modi told the Russian President that this was not a day for fighting but for condemning his actions in Ukraine.

Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said in an updated post on the social media platform, X, that like the US, Russia also has its own playground in the foreign policy of the Republic of India.

“Neither India nor the global South considers Putin an international pariah,” the former Russian ambassador said.

India’s bilateral trade with Russia jumped 33% to an all-time high of $65.7 billion during the fiscal period ending March 2024. Still, the industry remains unbalanced, Kwatra pointed out.

Valid data shows that India’s exports to Russia were $4.26 billion, with monthly imports from the Kremlin amounting to $61.44 billion.

While Modi is trying to deepen ties with Russia, he later decided to skip the once-a-year Shanghai Cooperation Group event, where Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to boost economic cooperation among the participants. Was. Putin attended the forum organized in Kazakhstan, but Modi sent Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar there.

Harsh V. Pant, vice president of think tank Witness Analysis Base, said he does not expect a bilateral meeting between India and China anytime soon, as the two countries’ dating “certainly has not recovered from what happened in 2020.”

He was talking about the India-China border incident in the western Himalayas in June that year, which resulted in clashes and deaths on both sides: 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers died.

India and China were embroiled in an ongoing territorial dispute for a long time.

China, which refers to the region as Zangnan, claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet. The Republic of India rejects those claims, insisting that Arunachal Pradesh has always been a part of the Republic of India.

“I don’t think India, at least at the highest level, is in a mood to negotiate with China,” Pant said. “I think the message from India’s side to China is that, look – the border issue has to be resolved.”

After his two-day visit to Russia, Modi will visit Vienna, Austria on Tuesday, which will be his first visit with an Indian prime minister in 41 years.