India-Russia discussing Modi-Putin Summit

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, October 12: Russian President Vladimir Putin may host Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a summit meeting later this year in Moscow. Indian ambassador to Moscow Pavan Kapoor has told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that India and Russia have hectic bilateral engagement in the next few months.

To a question that Russia is seeking delaying the summit from December to early next year, Kapoor told RIA Novosti that “we expect the Summit meeting between the leaders of India and Russia to be held later in the year. The dates are still being worked out through mutual consultations.”

“A number of bilateral meetings are scheduled to be held in Russia, leading up to the Summit meeting. The two major meetings are those of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) which is co-chaired by our External Affairs Minister and the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, and the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) chaired by the Defence Ministers of the two countries,” added the top Indian diplomat in Moscow.

It may be recalled that the last Modi-Putin bilateral had taken place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit last year. Putin this month is travelling to China to take part in a mega meeting on Belt and Road Initiative.

“Both these meetings are expected to be held sometime in the autumn. A number of working group and sub group meetings will be held in the run up to these IRIGC meetings. We therefore have a busy schedule of bilateral meetings over the next few months,” Kapoor told the Russian news agency.

Putin had not taken part in the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi in September and Russia was represented by the foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.