New Delhi: The government announced today that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit India for a two-day visit beginning tomorrow. Since Vladimir Putin’s invasion on Ukraine, this would be Moscow’s highest-level visit.
“Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to New Delhi on 31 March -1 April 2022,” the government said in a press release. Lavrov is travelling to India after completing a two-day visit to China. The visit also comes as the western nations have intensified pressure on Russia over the Ukraine invasion.
India has also voted against UN sanctions against Russia and continues to purchase Russian oil and other items.
For decades, India and Russia have had a close relationship. New Delhi buys the majority of its important military hardware from Russia, which it refers to as a “longstanding and time-tested friend.”
The Russian foreign ministry has not revealed who the Russian president will meet during his tour, which falls on the same day as visits by British foreign secretary Liz Truss and US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh.
The White House has stated that Daleep Singh, a prominent Indian-American US adviser and a key architect of Washington’s severe economic sanctions against Moscow, will discuss the “consequences” of Russia’s “unjustified war” against Ukraine and the building of an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
“(Daleep) Singh will consult closely with counterparts on the consequences of Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine and mitigating its impact on the global economy,” said Emily Horne, spokesperson of the National Security Council of the White House.
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