"Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to New Delhi on October 4-5 for the 19th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit " the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
"During the visit President Putin will hold official talks with the Prime Minister Modi... He will also have a meeting with the President (Ram Nath Kovind) as well as other official engagements " it stated. Russia is one of only two countries with which India holds annual bilateral summits the other being Japan.
The India-Russia bilateral relationship was elevated to Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in 2010. Earlier this month External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Moscow for the 23rd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) meeting which also prepared the groundwork for Putin s upcoming visit.
During that meeting India and Russia decided to increase the target of two-way investments to $50 billion by 2025 since the earlier target of $30 billion has already been crossed. Speculation is also rife about whether a missile deal that New Delhi has been negotiating with Moscow will be finalised during Putin s visit.
With US President Donald Trump s administration s law -- Countering America s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) -- coming into effect in January India s defence deals with other countries have come under the scanner.
CAATSA targets countries doing business with Russian Iranian and North Korean defence companies. It is a matter of concern for India as it is a major defence partner of Russia. The most controversial issue is India s purchase of four S-400 air defence missile systems from Russia at a cost of more that Rs 40 000 crore.
Following the first ever India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in New Delhi on September 6 a senior US State Department official said that there will be no blanket waiver for the S-400 deal. The last India-Russia annual bilateral summit was held on June 1 2017 during the visit of Modi to Russia.
--IANS ab/ksk/bg
