NEW DELHI: India-Russia relations have a solid material base as economic cooperation expands steadily, and bilateral trade exceeds $60 billion, successfully overcoming the attempts of “individual ill-wishers” to prevent this, said Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
With Russian President Putin expected to visit India this year for the annual summit, Lavrov said preparations are underway for his visit. PM Modi had visited Moscow last year for the same event. This will be Putin’s first visit to India since the Russia-Ukraine war started.
“Relations between our countries have a long history…They have stood the test of time more than once. Today, Russia and India are developing equal cooperation based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests. It is difficult to overestimate contribution of our leaders to this process,” said the minister, addressing a conference on Russia-India ties in virtual mode.
Lavrov expressed gratitude for the fact that India, and PM Modi particularly, took a “consistently balanced position” on Ukrainian crisis and advocated its resolution through dialogue.
Addressing the same event, Lavrov’s counterpart S Jaishankar said further enhancement of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia continued to be a shared foreign policy priority. He said this was going to be important in the era of multipolarity, as the two countries navigate a complex geopolitical landscape.
