MOSCOW, 9 July. The main part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow is scheduled for today. The sides will discuss not only bilateral cooperation but also the international situation.
The official Russian-Indian talks will take place in both a narrow and an expanded format. No media statements are planned after the talks, but Moscow and New Delhi intend to report on the progress of the talks in one way or another.
The communication between the heads of state started a day earlier. After arriving in Moscow, Modi travelled in Aur to the Russian President's residence in Novo-Ogaryovo. There he had a chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin over a cup of tea and they walked in the park. It was an informal communication between the leaders "with a loose agenda, one-on-one", as the Kremlin noted.
The two leaders managed to speak face to face without the usual presence of interpreters in such cases. At some point during the walk, the heads of state departed from the main delegation and walked and talked together for a few minutes, without strangers.
The Kremlin stressed that the informal talks between the leaders of Russia and India were also very important.
The Russian side described the dialogue programme as "intense, if not overloaded". Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president, said the Kremlin attached "paramount importance" to the visit as it was Modi's first trip since the elections. The country held parliamentary elections in June, which Modi's party won.
Agenda
The agenda is expected to be extensive. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted, Moscow and New Delhi have a "mutual political will" to develop cooperation in various areas. Integration processes are progressing: both countries are members of several joint structures, including BRICS and the SCO.
Regional and global security issues are "always high on the agenda of summits", the Kremlin said.
Indian Foreign Minister Vinay Kwatra, for his part, confirmed that issues of regional and global importance will become "an important element of the negotiations".
According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, bilateral economic issues, specifically "trade imbalances", will also be on the agenda. As Kwatra explained, trade turnover between the two countries has increased significantly between 2023 and 2024, reaching nearly $65 billion, thanks to close cooperation in the energy sector. India's exports to Russia, however, stand at $4 billion.
Kwatra also highlighted defence cooperation between the two countries as "an important segment of the privileged strategic partnership". He stressed that the two countries remain in full contact on this issue.
Other topics include the space sector and energy security. India has already commissioned the first and second units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, which it is building with Russian assistance. Construction of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth units is currently underway.
TASS/gnews.cz-jav_07
https://tass.com/politics/1814253
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