Published 20:46 IST, February 17th 2021
'President Putin looking forward to India-Russia summit, date to be decided': FS Shringla
While addressing long-pending India-Russia annual summit, Shringla stated that Lavrov had conveyed to him that President Putin was looking forward to his visit
India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday revealing that the two had emphasized on their strategic partnership, the India-Russia summit, and had discussed other regional and international issues of interest such as India's membership in the United Nations Security Council.
"The Foreign Minister emphasized the importance that he attaches to the strategic partnership between India and Russia. I extended him an invitation on the behalf of the External Affairs Minister and he said that he was looking forward to doing so at the earliest," said Shringla.
Russia looking forward to summit: Shringla
While addressing the long-pending India-Russia annual summit, Shringla stated that Lavrov had conveyed to him that President Putin was looking forward to his visit to India on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "This will be done based on a date decided by the two sides," he said. The duo also discussed a number of other visits for the Raisina dialogue, the visit of the Army and Naval Chief amongst others.
"We discussed some other issues of regional and international interest including cooperation in UN and UNSC where India is a non-permanent member. We spoke on issues of Afghanistan and on the whole, the issue of cooperation in the area of vaccines, and global response to COVID-19 was also discussed," said Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
He revealed that he had also met Russin Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov earlier today where the duo had discussed bilateral and international relations in areas of interest. "We would see certain developments in few months that would reinstate the strategic partnership that we both enjoy," he said.
Later today, the Indian foreign secretary will address the Russian Academy of Diplomats, an event that will be telecasted live after which he would meet a group of prominent academics on ideas to take the India-Russia relationship forward. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla is in Moscow on a two-day visit on February 17 and 18.
Updated 20:47 IST, February 17th 2021