External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to visit Russia on August 21 to meet Sergey Lavrov.
Bilateral Agenda and International Cooperation
“The ministers will discuss key issues on our bilateral agenda and key aspects of cooperation within international frameworks,” said the Russian foreign ministry in a statement.
New Delhi and Moscow have been touting their “strategic partnership” since US President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on Indian imports last week over India’s purchase of Russian crude, which he claimed was funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Doval Meets Putin Before Jaishankar’s Visit
Last week, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met Russian President Vladimir Putin a day after US President Donald Trump imposed 25% additional tariff on Indian exports in response to India’s continued purchase of crude oil from Russia, taking the total tariff to 50%.
The Kremlin released a video of Putin shaking hands with Ajit Doval but did not provide any details of the meeting. Doval also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India soon. The visit is expected to take place by end of 2025.
“We are very excited and happy to hear that President Putin is coming to India. I think the dates are almost finalised now,” Doval said.
“You have rightly said that we have very special relationship, long relationship and we value our strategic partnership very much. We have had high level engagements and these high level engagements have contributed very much. We are very excited and happy to hear that President Putin is coming to India. I think the dates are almost finalised now,” he added.