Jaishankar to meet Lavrov in Moscow on August 21

Russia on Wednesday said that Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar will visit Moscow on August 21 to hold talks with Sergey Lavrov, the country's foreign minister.

"The ministers will discuss key

issues on our bilateral agenda, as well as key aspects of cooperation within international frameworks," the Russian foreign ministry said in a brief statement.

Jaishankar's visit to Russia would come within weeks of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's visit to Russia. These visits, while believed to be scheduled beforehand, are taking place at a time when the India-US relationship has nosedived with the imposition of 50 per cent American tariffs on India for the purchase of Russian oil. US President Donald Trump has accused India of funding the Russian war

on Ukraine with oil purchases.

By the end of the year, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is also expected to visit India, which would be his first visit to the country since he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leading to diplomatic isolation in the world.

Later this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also visit China to attend the SCO Summit. Putin is also expected to attend the summit.

In the wake of Trump's tariff war on the world, which is set to hit India the hardest, there have been

suggestions that India should work with Russia and China bilaterally or multilaterally in forums like the 'RIC' to seek alternatives to the US export market.

However, it has been highlighted the reality that RIC will be a China-dominated group and not be in India's favour. After all, even though India and China have partially resolved the standoff in Ladakh and have taken steps like resuming visas and Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage, the relationship remains far from normal.