Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Russian Deputy PM Meet; Discuss PM Modi's Vladivostok Visit

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev on Wednesday and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum later this year.

Jaishankar's meeting with Trutnev comes days after Prime Minister Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, where the two leaders reviewed all aspects of bilateral relations to further strengthen the strategic relationship.

"EAM @DrSJaishankar met with Deputy Prime Minister & Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia Yury Trutnev. Discussed various aspects of India-Russia relationship, including the visit by PM @narendramodi to Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Trutnev, who led a high-level delegation to India for a visit from June 15-19, also held meetings with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

He also had an interaction with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and attended a round-table discussion involving representatives of leading Indian universities to foster closer partnership between Indian and Russian Far Eastern Universities in the field of science and education, the MEA said.

Trutnev also travelled to Mumbai where he interacted with prominent Indian industry representatives and had meetings with Indian companies having business interests in the Russian Far East.

The visit was undertaken to help both sides prepare grounds for the visit of the prime minister to Vladivostok in early September to participate in the fifth edition of the Eastern Economic Forum as the chief guest of the event, the MEA said.

The visit also provided opportunity to explore bilateral cooperation in the sectors of diamond-processing, petroleum and natural gas, coal and mining, agro-processing and tourism which have been identified as the priority areas for development in the Russian Far East, it said.

Both sides agreed to work together to promote their bilateral economic engagement in the Russian Far East, the statement said.

Briefing the media after the Modi-Putin meeting last week, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said there will be a Russia, India and China trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, later this month.

President Putin formally invited Prime Minister Modi to be the main guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, in early September, and he warmly accepted the invitation, Gokhale had said.

Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev had earlier visited India in March 2017.