PM Modi's two-day Russia visit from July 8: Check details

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his two-day Russia visit on July 8 (Monday), his first visit ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine -- which the Kremlin has called a "special military operation".
PM Modi is scheduled to reach Moscow late afternoon on Monday and will attend a private dinner hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday, PM Modi will meet the Indian community in Russia. After interacting with the Indian diaspora, the Prime Minister will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kremlin and visit an exhibition venue in Moscow.
"These engagements will be followed by a restricted level talk between the two leaders, which will then be followed by delegation level talks led by the Prime Minister and the Russian President," said foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra.
According to the officials, PM Modi and Putin will discuss regional and global security, trade and all other topics on the agenda during their meeting.
"We (Russia and India) jointly take part in integration processes, so regional affairs, regional security and global security are always at the top of the agenda. In addition, of course, our bilateral trade and economic interaction is always a focal point," the Kremlin official said, answering a question about what topics will be discussed at the negotiations between Putin and Modi.
Describing Prime Minister Modi's visit as "very important," the official noted that Moscow and New Delhi have "mutual political will" to develop cooperation in a variety of areas.
"Given the very trusting nature of the relationship between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi, we can expect that there will be an exchange of views on all issues that are on the agenda, and there are many of them," Peskov added.
The annual summit between the Prime Minister of India and the Russian president is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two sides.
So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit took place in New Delhi in December 2021. The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
India has not yet condemned the Russian operations in Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. PM Modi's last trip to Russia was in 2019, when he visited the Far East city of Vladivostok.
India and Russia are both members of the BRICS group of countries. India, the world's third-largest crude consumer, has been a major buyer of discounted Russian oil since the Kremlin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and has deep economic and political ties with Moscow.