Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8 to discuss bilateral relations between New Delhi and Moscow, CNN-News18 has learnt.
The visit will see discussions on defence, oil, gas, and other Indian strategic interests, said top government sources.
This trip is important after PM Modi’s recent visit to the G7 summit in Italy as most of the global leadership is going through a change and even the US presidential election is just a few months away.
National security adviser Ajit Doval has already met Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions and PM Modi’s visit could be seen as part of India’s efforts to ascertain the way forward.
The Prime Minister last met the Russian President on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan in 2022, where he told Putin that today’s era is “not of war”.
This visit is also important because of the strong bilateral between the two countries. India doesn’t want Russia to be fully dependent on China for too many things as India is hugely dependent on Russia for several defence procurements.
Sources say this visit may be useful for the West also as only India is seen as a strong mediator in the present circumstances amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Discussions on issues like defence, the China factor, and mediation on Ukraine, etc, that were previously taken up by NSA Doval will now be held at the top level even as all eyes are on the India-Russia relationship that has become a decisive factor in global geopolitics, said the sources.
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