New Delhi: Days after the Kremlin and India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued distinctly different readouts of a telephonic call that took place between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 30 June, the latter will speak to world leaders including the Indian PM and Chinese President Xi Jinping Tuesday, at a summit virtually hosted by India.
This will be Putin’s first multilateral summit attendance since Russia was rocked by a mutiny last month.
Putin’s address Tuesday will be a part of the 22nd Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which New Delhi is hosting virtually. Heads of SCO member countries — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — are participating in the summit.
India, which currently holds the one-year SCO presidency, is hosting the virtual summit a week after PM Modi concluded his first official state visit to the US, where a slew of defence, technology and other private sector deals were inked.
The summit also comes days after the Putin administration faced an unprecedented internal security crisis triggered by a revolt staged by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s Wagner Private Military Company. This raised speculations of a potential coup, however, Prigozhin eventually halted the rebellion.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to be engaged in war against Ukraine.
The different communications
On 30 June, Modi and Putin held a telephonic phone call during which the Wagner mutiny from earlier that month was discussed. However, some key differences emerged in the readouts provided by the Indian and Russian sides about this call.
The 86-word readout from the MEA stated that Putin informed PM Modi about the recent developments in Russia and the two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine, during which the Indian PM reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy. “The two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest,” added the readout.
However, the 197-word readout from the Kremlin stated that PM Modi expressed “support of the resolute actions by the Russian leadership to protect law and order and ensure stability in the country and security of its people” during the Wagner mutiny.
It also mentioned that Modi informed Putin about his recent visit to the US — something that was missing from MEA’s document.
According to the Kremlin communication, Narendra Modi told Vladimir Putin about his international contacts, including his recent visit to Washington.
It also noted that “special attention” was paid to the SCO — something that was also missing from the Indian side.
Earlier, it was widely reported that the SCO summit would take place physically in New Delhi, but in May, the MEA announced that it would take place virtually and did not offer a reason for it.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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