New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “highly likely” to visit Russia in July, which would then become his first state visit abroad after being sworn in for a third term.
The dates of his visit though aren’t final yet, said diplomatic sources.
Kremlin aide and former diplomat Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Russian media Tuesday as saying that preparations are underway in Russia for the Indian Prime Minister’s visit.
The last time Modi visited Russia was in 2019, but that was only to Vladivostok, unlike when he visited Moscow in 2015. In December 2021, Putin visited India for the 21st India-Russia summit. The annual event has been put on ice since the start of the Ukraine war.
Though Modi visited Italy for the G7 Summit earlier this month, travelling to Russia at the invitation of Putin would mark his first official state visit abroad since entering office for a third term, barring visits to other countries for multilateral summits.
This would be a deviation from picking Bhutan as his first destination in 2014 and 2019. Incidentally, the last time an Indian Prime Minister picked Moscow as his first foreign visit was in 1985 when Rajiv Gandhi travelled to Soviet Russia.
Rajesh Rajagopalan, professor of international politics at JNU, said Modi’s Russia visit may send a “confusing message” because the PM is expected to skip the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit slated from 3 to 4 July in Kazakhstan.
“If Modi visits Russia, it will confirm speculations that he didn’t want to interact with the Chinese President on the sidelines of the SCO Summit,” he told ThePrint.
“Also, Modi picking Russia as his first official state visit in the third term would send a somewhat confusing message as India and Russia have failed to hold their annual summit for a couple of years now,” he added.
Diplomatic sources said that the two leaders would discuss the key regional and bilateral issues, besides the issue of several Indians hired by the Russian Army as “security helpers” and stuck on the frontlines of the Ukraine war now. A total of four such Indians have died.
The sources also said that defence would be a focus area, and the discussions would entail the transfer of technology to offset the delay in supplying spare parts to the Indian military, which is now beginning to hurt from it.
Rupee-ruble trade will also likely be a talking point as Moscow will have to decide what to do with large amounts of Indian rupees accumulated in the country on account of energy exports to India.
Since last year, New Delhi and Moscow have been discussing ways for Russia to use the surplus rupees — through business deals, maritime corridors, or government securities.
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Talks underway to return Indians to safety
The Indian government has been pressing Moscow to ensure the safety and repatriation of the Indians stuck in Russia and said it has demanded a halt to further recruitment.
Diplomatic sources said that over the last week, the Russian and Indian foreign ministries have been in communication to discuss a plan to return Indian nationals stuck on the frontlines and that in 45-50 days, a plan of action will take form.
Sources also added that this issue could have links to potential human trafficking, and therefore, identifying which Indian nationals are in the Russian Army will be a task in itself. The recruitment of Indians by the Russian army as “security helpers” has, therefore, become a thorny issue, government sources had told ThePrint.
On Tuesday, families of Indian nationals stuck in Russia travelled from various states, including Punjab, Karnataka and Hyderabad, to New Delhi in the hopes of speaking with officials in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) about the issue.
The family members of 24-year-old Gagandeep Singh, who hails from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, said they were turned away but will continue to protest until men like Gagandeep can return.
“We want the Indian government to expedite his return because the fighting is very intense in Russia, and now, people are dying. It’s very unpredictable,” Gagandeep’s brother, Mandeep, told ThePrint Tuesday.
Last week, MEA issued a stern statement, saying it has demanded a stop to the recruitment of Indians in the Russian army and that such activities are not in “consonance with our partnership”.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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