Vladimir Putin To Visit India Soon, Dates Being Finalised, Says Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India soon, the Kremlin said today, adding that Moscow and New Delhi are “working on the dates”. The visit, which is likely to be early next year, will be part of a laid down structure between the two countries for reciprocal annual visits by their leaders.

Without giving any specific details on the agenda of the visit, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We are looking forward to the visit. The dates will be mutually worked out soon.”

The announcement of Vladimir Putin’s visit to India came on the 1,000th day of the war in Ukraine and on the same day that Russia updated its nuclear doctrine for a second time, allowing Moscow to target non-nuclear states should the need arise. Despite efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict has seen a sharp escalation in the last few days with US President Joe Biden giving the green signal to Kyiv to use long-range missiles to target territory deep within Russia.

President Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during his visit. The two leaders had last met during PM Modi’s visit to Kazan in Russia for the BRICS Summit in late-October. During the visit, PM Modi had extended an invitation to President Putin to visit India.