India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to travel to Russia on Tuesday, August 19, for a three-day official visit that is expected to bolster the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. The visit comes at the invitation of Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and will continue till 21 August.
During his stay in Moscow, Jaishankar will co-chair the 26th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation, scheduled for 20 August. He is also expected to address the India-Russia Business Forum and hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to review the full range of bilateral cooperation and exchange views on key regional and global issues.
The visit builds on a series of recent high-level engagements between the two countries. It follows India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit to Moscow earlier this month, during which he held meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials.
Jaishankar himself had met Lavrov on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 15 July, and again during the BRICS Summit in Kazan last month.
Earlier in the year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri travelled to Moscow for Foreign Office Consultations with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko. The discussions at that time covered a wide range of issues, including bilateral ties and regional developments, and reviewed progress made on key decisions taken during previous high-level meetings.
The current visit will also serve as a follow-up to the 25th session of the Inter-Governmental Commission held in New Delhi in November 2024, which was also co-chaired by Jaishankar and Manturov.
Discussions are expected to take forward the outcomes of the 22nd Annual Summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held in Moscow in July 2024, and the leaders’ bilateral engagement on the margins of the BRICS Summit.
President Putin is also expected to visit India following an invitation from Prime Minister Modi, in keeping with the tradition of annual summits between the two nations.
