Moscow Moscow : India’s Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Russia as “very important” and said it is happening after a gap of three years. Speaking to ANI, Vinay Kumar said Prime Minister Modi’s visit is “very important” for the two leaders to exchange views on developments in bilateral relations and discuss other regional and important issues of mutual interest. He said the two countries have a tradition of annual exchange of summit-level meetings between the Russian President and the Indian Prime Minister and said the last meeting was held in 2021.
It is noteworthy that this will be the 22nd India-Russia annual bilateral summit. The 21st bilateral summit was held in December 2021 when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited New Delhi. When asked about the significance of PM Modi’s first foreign visit after taking oath as the PM of India for the third time, he replied, “This visit is very important. It is happening after a gap of three years. We have There is a tradition of annual exchange of summit-level meetings between the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of India and the last meeting was in 2021, so a lot has changed around the world since then, but our relations have also expanded. Has happened.”
He said, “Russia is now one of the important sources of energy resources in India. Besides, trade has increased in other areas also. So this visit is an opportunity for the leaders to exchange views on all these developments in bilateral relations. becomes very important, and other regional and international issues of mutual interest will also be discussed.” Vinay Kumar said that during his visit, Prime Minister Modi will hold a personal meeting with Russian President Putin, attend a lunch hosted by Putin and visit an exhibition centre. He told that Prime Minister Modi will address a gathering of members of the Indian community in Russia.
Elaborating on PM Modi’s program during his visit to Russia, the Indian Ambassador said, “The program included a private meeting with President Putin, delegation-level talks, restricted talks, a call by President Putin to the Prime Minister and his delegation. The event also included a lunch, a visit to an exhibition center at the VDNKh complex, the Rosatom pavilion, and an exchange of documents, which we are preparing to sign and exchange during the visit.” He said, “The Prime Minister will also address a gathering of members of the Indian community, who are eagerly waiting for this Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow after a gap of nine years. The last Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow was in 2015. So this There are some important elements to the program.” It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Modi will be in Moscow on July 8-9 to participate in the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit at the invitation of the Russian President.
Asked about the issues to be discussed during the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Russia and President Putin, he said, “The first thing I want to say is that I am not in a position to assume that the two leaders But, I can definitely tell you that this visit is in the framework of the annual exchange of our President and Prime Minister at world summits and therefore the context is bilateral. “, including the war mentioned, will be discussed. And the leaders will exchange their views and their perspectives on these developments.”
Vinay Kumar stressed that trade between India and Russia has expanded and has crossed US$ 65 billion. However, he said that the Russian side is benefiting to a great extent in the trade. He said that India is considering new items including agricultural products for export to Russia.
Speaking about trade between the two countries, he said, “As I was telling, trade has expanded in the last three years, crossing US$65 billion. We have two challenges. One, Balancing trade, as trade is largely in favor of the Russian side, hence expanding India’s trade basket, export goods and increasing the volume to better balance trade, as well as this in bilateral trade. Finding ways and means to sustain growth.” He said, “We are considering new items to export to Russia including agricultural products, ceramic tiles, auto components and engineering goods, chemical products, of course pharmaceuticals has been one of the traditional sectors, the products which are exported. We want to increase their quantity and also add new items to the trade basket. Describing defense as an important pillar of India-Russia relations, he said that India has purchased many platforms and their spare parts from Russia. Vinay Kumar said that India will consider further increasing this trend of co-production of defense items.
He said, “Defence is a very important pillar of the relationship. There are many platforms that India has purchased from Russia and their spare parts and many components and spare parts are also manufactured in India. There is already progress in this direction.” A lot is being done and we will consider further enhancing this trend of co-production of defense goods in India.” He stressed that there should be connectivity between people to people. is very important. He said, “Similarly, connectivity is very important for trade and people-to-people exchanges. The International North-South Transport Corridor is also on the agenda and along with it there has been movement of some cargo. New routes are also coming up.” , like the Arctic route or the Northern Sea Route, as it’s called, and we’re looking to institutionalize and expand cooperation in that area as well.” According to an earlier press release of the Ministry of External Affairs, during their visit to Moscow, Prime Minister Modi and Putin will comprehensively review the multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest.
It is noteworthy that in the last 10 years, PM Modi and Putin have met 16 times. The last face-to-face meeting between the two leaders took place during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in 2021. PM Modi has been awarded Russia’s highest state honor ‘Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First’ in 2019. PM Modi will visit Austria after concluding his visit to Russia. ,ANI,