External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Moscow on Monday as a part of his two-day visit to Russia.
During the visit, Mr Jaishankar will be holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in continuation of the regular high-level dialogue between the two sides.
During the EAM’s visit, talks between the two sides are expected to cover a range of bilateral issues and exchange of views on various regional and international developments.
Mr Jaishankar last visited Russia in July 2021 followed by the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister to New Delhi in April 2022.
Earlier on Monday, ahead of EAM’s visit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia and India stand for the active formation of a more just and equal polycentric world order.
“Russia and India stand for the active formation of a more just and equal polycentric world order, and proceed from the inadmissibility of promoting the imperialist diktat on the global arena,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said bilateral relations between the two countries bear the character of a special and privileged strategic partnership and effective interaction mechanisms have been formed between the two countries over the past decade.
“The key areas of cooperation with India are the further intensification of the political dialogue in a bilateral format and on international platforms, promotion of economic, financial, energy, military-technical, humanitarian, scientific and technical cooperation,” the Russian statement read.
According to the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov and Mr Jaishankar will discuss ways to advance joint work in the key areas and compare notes on the schedule of upcoming contacts.
“The talks will focus on the trade and investments, transport and logistics, the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, as well as promising projects in the energy sector, especially in the
Arctic shelf and the Russian Far East,” the ministry said.
It said there would be an exchange of assessments on the current international issues with an emphasis on interaction within the UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Group of Twenty (G20) and RIC (Russia, India, China).
“The Ministers will also discuss India’s presidency in the SCO, efforts to fight terrorism, as well as a number of the regional issues, including the formation of a security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, the situation around the Iranian nuclear problem, state of affairs in Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
Since the start of the Ukraine conflict earlier this year, India’s bilateral ties with Russia have come under the scanner of the West for a surge in oil imports from sanctions-hit Moscow. The war in Ukraine which has continued for more than eight months has had a significant impact on global food security and has led to a sudden increase in crude prices.
Notably, India has not condemned Russia since the start of the conflict and has maintained its independent position. On several UN forums, New Delhi has consistently called for a cessation of violence and advocated peace and diplomacy.