President Putin to Visit India; Foreign Ministry Confirms Date, Grand Meeting with PM Modi Planned

New Delhi/Moscow (The Uttam Hindu): Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India on December 4 and 5 for a state visit. The Kremlin officially announced on Friday that Putin is coming to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During this two-day visit, both countries are expected to sign several important trade agreements. Apart from this, the two leaders will hold detailed discussions to further strengthen India–Russia relations and address regional security and major international issues. The Kremlin clarified that this will not be a ceremonial meeting but a visit aimed at delivering concrete outcomes.

Putin’s visit comes at a highly sensitive diplomatic and geopolitical moment. Since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, India’s purchase of discounted oil from Russia has created tension with Western nations, especially the United States. The situation escalated further when US President Donald Trump imposed a steep 50% tariff on most Indian imports in August. Trump accused India of indirectly funding Russia’s war efforts by buying its oil. In this context, Putin’s arrival in India is being viewed as a strong message to the US and other Western countries.

The Kremlin has made extensive preparations to make this visit significant. Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s foreign policy adviser, said that Putin’s upcoming India visit will be “grand and meaningful.” He added that both sides are actively preparing for this state visit. Ushakov noted that this visit is an opportunity to uphold the long-standing tradition and agreement under which top leaders of both countries meet annually to discuss bilateral and global issues. Notably, during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s recent visit to Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had already indicated that Putin would visit New Delhi within three weeks.