Close on the heels of the recent clash between Indian Army and Chinese PLA troops, and the Russia and Ukraine war escalating further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir talked during a telephone call. On the Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Modi once again reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way forward.
According to official statements from both the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as well as Moscow, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, trade and investments, defence, energy security were among the issues discussed.
Since the Russia-Ukraine war which started this year in February, this is the fifth phone call between the two leaders. On PM Modi’s request President Putin gave fundamental assessments of Russia’s line on the Ukrainian situation. This year in September the two leaders met in person on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, when PM Modi had in his meeting with Putin said that “today’s era is not of war”.
The Ministry of External Affairs and the Kremlin confirmed that the two leaders had a telephone conversation and they reviewed various aspects of the bilateral relations.
According to an official statement from Russia, the two leaders discussed in detail about practical discussions in several sectors like transport and logistics, energy, agriculture, as well as mutual investments. The two leaders expressed satisfaction on the bilateral cooperation developing on the principles of Russian-Indian special and privileged strategic partnership.
PM Modi and the Russian leader underscored the importance of the close coordination within the framework of international organizations including in the context of the Indian presidency of G20 and the SCO.
India-Russia Annual Summit
Due to ”scheduling issues” this December PM Modi will not be travelling to Moscow for the annual summit between the two countries and this comes in the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Speaking to Financial Express Online, a top source confirmed “The annual summit is not taking place this year. However, in 2023 the two leaders are likely to meet three times – at the SCO summit which will take place in New Delhi, G20 Summit and BRICS summit in South Africa.”
“The two sides are working on having the bilateral summit level talks on the sidelines of either SCO or G20 summit in 2023, ” the source added.
The last annual summit between the two countries was on December 6, when the Russian leader was on a short working visit to New Delhi. So far the two countries have held 21 annual summits which take place alternatively in India and Moscow. This is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership of India and Russia.
