Russian President Putin Likely To Visit India In First Week Of December

Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to visit India in the first week of December for the 23rd annual India-Russia bilateral summit, sources told News18. While an official confirmation is still awaited, more details are expected in the coming days.

According to an NDTV report, Putin is expected to be in India on 5–6 December. The high-level visit was first discussed during National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval’s trip to Moscow in August, although the dates had not been finalised at the time.

The India-Russia Annual Summit is a key pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries. It was established in 2000 and alternates between India and Russia, with a few interruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At a press briefing

earlier today, Deputy NSA Pavan Kapoor confirmed that active preparations are underway for the visit. The upcoming summit is expected to cover a wide range of areas including trade, defence, finance, healthcare, and high technology.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke about the visit on 28 September during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), saying, “We have a very extensive bilateral agenda, trade, military, technical cooperation, finance, humanitarian matters, healthcare, high-tech, artificial intelligence, and of course close coordination at the international level within the SCO, BRICS and bilaterally.”