Russian deputy prime minister to meet Doval, Jaishankar, Sitharaman during India visit
NEW DELHI — Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov will arrive in New Delhi on Thursday for a two-day official visit, where he is scheduled to hold talks with top Indian officials on a range of strategic and economic issues.
According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Manturov will meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during his visit.
Separately, Vladimir Yakushev, Secretary of the General Council of the Edinaya Rossia Party and First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council, will also be in India from April 2 to April 4. Yakushev leads the working group on cooperation between Russia’s Federation Council and the Council of States of India’s Parliament.
Yakushev is expected to meet Jaishankar and Indian lawmakers, with discussions set to focus on inter-parliamentary ties as well as trade, economic, and cultural cooperation between the two countries.
The visits come amid a series of high-level engagements between India and Russia this week.
On Monday, Jaishankar met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in New Delhi, where the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation along with regional and global developments.
“Good to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko of Russia. Spoke about further advancement of our wide-ranging cooperation. As well as regional and global developments,” Jaishankar said in a post on X following the meeting.
India and Russia also held Foreign Office Consultations the same day, reviewing their Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership and discussing a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global issues.
The consultations were co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Rudenko.
In a post on X, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India-Russia Foreign Office Consultations, co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, were held in New Delhi today.”
“Both sides reviewed the full spectrum of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership and shared perspectives on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” he added.
On Tuesday, Rudenko said Moscow is expecting a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year for a bilateral summit.
“This year, it is Russia’s turn to host the Russian-Indian summit. We hope that the Indian Prime Minister will take advantage of President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to pay an official visit to Russia at a convenient time,” Russia’s state news agency Tass quoted Rudenko as saying.
He described it as “very important” for both countries to maintain regular and systematic engagement at multiple levels. (Source: IANS)
