Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar speaks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia

Moscow:

Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar has termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Russia as “very important” and noted that it comes after a gap of three years.

Speaking to ANI, Vinay Kumar said that Prime Minister Modi's visit is “very important” for the two leaders to exchange views on the evolving bilateral relations and discuss other regional and important issues of mutual interest.

He noted that the two nations have a tradition of annual exchange of summit meetings between the Russian President and the Indian Prime Minister and added that the last one took place in 2021.

This will be the 22nd annual India-Russia bilateral summit. The 21st bilateral summit was held in December 2021, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi.

Asked about the significance of Prime Minister Modi's first foreign visit after taking oath as the Prime Minister of India for the third time, he said, “This visit is very important. It is taking place after a gap of three years. We have the tradition of annual exchange of summit meetings between the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of India and the last one was in 2021. So, since then, a lot has changed in the world, but our relations have also grown.”

“Russia is today one of the most important sources of energy resources for India. In addition, trade has expanded in other areas. Therefore, this visit becomes very important for the leaders to exchange views on all developments in bilateral relations as well as other regional and international issues of mutual interest,” he added.

Vinay Kumar said that Prime Minister Modi will meet Russian President Putin privately, attend a lunch hosted by Putin and visit an exhibition He added that Prime Minister Modi will address a gathering of members of the Indian community in Russia.

Elaborating on Prime Minister Modi's programme during his visit to Russia, the Indian envoy said, “The programme includes a private meeting with President Putin, delegation level talks, restricted talks, lunch hosted by President Putin for the Prime Minister and his delegation, visit to an exhibition centre in Badenha complex, Rosatom pavilion and exchange of documents which we are preparing to sign and exchange during the visit.”

“The Prime Minister will also address a gathering of members of the Indian community who are eagerly awaiting this visit of the Prime Minister to Moscow after a gap of nine years. The last visit of the Prime Minister to Moscow was in 2015. So these are some of the important elements of the programme,” he added.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Modi will be in Moscow on July 8-9 at the invitation of the Russian President to hold the 22nd annual India-Russia summit.

Asked about the topics that will be discussed during the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin, he said, “The first thing I want to say is that I am not in a position to prejudge what the two leaders will say. But I can certainly tell you that this visit is part of our annual exchange of presidential and prime ministerial visits that we have at global summits and so the context is bilateral. But certainly global issues, including this war that you mentioned, will be discussed. And the leaders will exchange views and perspectives on these developments.”

Vinay Kumar pointed out that trade between India and Russia has expanded and has crossed $65 billion. He, however, noted that the trade is largely in favour of the Russian side. He said that India is looking at new products, including agricultural products for export to Russia.

Talking about the trade between the two countries, he said, “As I mentioned, in the last three years, the trade has increased to over $65 billion. We have two challenges. The first is to balance the trade, because the trade is very much in favour of the Russian side. So, we need to expand India's trade basket, the export products, and also increase the quantity to balance the trade better, while finding ways to sustain this growth in bilateral trade.”

“We are considering new products, including agricultural products for export to Russia, ceramic tiles, automotive components and engineering products, chemicals, of course, pharmaceuticals are one of the traditional sectors, products that we export to Russia. We want to increase their volume and also add new items to the trade basket,” he added.

Terming defence as an important pillar of India-Russia relations, he said India has procured several platforms and their spare parts from Russia. Vinay Kumar said India would discuss and consider further increasing this trend of co-production of defence items in India.

“Defence is a very important pillar of our relations. India has purchased a number of platforms and spare parts from Russia and also manufactures many components and spare parts in India. A lot of things are already underway. We will discuss and consider further increasing this trend of co-production, as we say, of defence items in India,” he said.

Stressing that connectivity is important for trade and people-to-people exchanges, he said: “Connectivity is also very important for trade and people-to-people exchanges. The international North-South transport corridor is very much on the agenda, and there have been movements of goods along it. New routes are also being developed, the Arctic route or the Northern Sea route, as it is called, and we are looking to institutionalize and expand cooperation in this sector as well.”

During his visit to Moscow, Prime Minister Modi and Putin will review the multifaceted overall relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest, an earlier press release from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

It is worth noting that Prime Minister Modi and Putin have met 16 times in the last 10 years. The last in-person meeting between the two leaders took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in 2021.

Prime Minister Modi was awarded Russia's highest state honour, the 'Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew I' in 2019. After concluding his visit to Russia, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Austria.

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