EAM lands in Russia on unusual 5-day visit; trade, energy on table
New Delhi, December 25
As ties with the West come under strain, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Moscow on Monday for an unusually extended stay of five days. Jaishankar posted a photo of himself in front of the century-old Metropol hotel along with a nostalgic snapshot of his entry permit to Red Square in Moscow in 1962 when he was only seven years old, captioned “How it started and how it’s going”.
“The full-format negotiations between the heads of Russian and Indian Foreign Affairs Ministries are scheduled on December 27,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Monday.
Will also focus on…
- $50 bn Russian investments
- Pak’s membership of BRICS
- Trade, energy and defence
- Coop at UN, SCO; Ukraine war
Jaishankar will also travel to St Petersburg to discuss various bilateral and global issues with Russian leaders. He will also meet Russia’s Deputy PM and Industry Minister Denis Manturov to discuss economic matters. From a bilateral viewpoint, Jaishankar’s interactions are important as they will substitute for the annual summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will not take place for the second consecutive year.
Though there are many pressing issues, one of urgent importance for India is Pakistan filing an application to join BRICS. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had hinted that India would oppose Islamabad’s application while Moscow, as the host of BRICS this year, feels it will be useful to engage Pakistan by giving it membership. BRICS is set to become an 11-member organisation from January 1 and Pakistan will attempt to become a member in the next round of expansion.
On the economic front, Jaishankar will discuss Russian investments of up to $50 billion, much of its pending payments for import of Russian crude. Other issues on the table will be in the areas of trade, energy, connectivity and defence ties, besides cooperation at the UN and the SCO, and the war in Ukraine.
Despite immense pressure from the US, India has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and far from heeding the American call to cut off trade with Moscow, New Delhi has vastly stepped up the purchase of crude, coking coal and timber. Earlier, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko had met Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra here in November to prepare for the visit.
