Moscow. Arrangements are currently being made for Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit India, Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, said in a video address to a conference titled “Russia and India: Toward a New Bilateral Agenda” being jointly hosted by the Indian Embassy in Russia and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), reported the Russian news agency TASS.
“[Russian] President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to visit from the Indian head of government. A visit by the Russian head of state to the Republic of India is currently being prepared,” the Russian foreign minister announced.
Lavrov noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his first foreign visit to Russia upon his re-election last year. “Now it’s our turn,” he said.
The Indian Prime Minister had visited Russia in July 202.
Enduring strength of ties
Meanwhile, while addressing the same conference, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reaffirmed the enduring strength of India-Russia relations, reported ANI from New Delhi.
“Our diplomatic engagement continued to be marked by frequent high-level exchanges, robust institutional mechanisms and a commitment to each other's core interests,” Jaishankar said.
“While areas like energy, defense and civil-nuclear cooperation have traditionally dominated our engagement, Trade, technology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, connectivity and the digital economy are emerging as new points of collaboration,” he added.
He also reiterated the ambitious goal of boosting bilateral trade, adding, “India and Russia have set a target of increasing bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.”