Jaishankar to visit Russia for two days on Wednesday

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will go to Russia on a two-day official visit on Wednesday.

A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said that during the visit from July 7 to 9, Jaishankar will meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.

The discussions are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues, including cooperation in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the exchange of views on various regional and international issues, the ministry said.

Jaishankar will also meet the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Yuri Borisov, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). He will also have a meeting with the chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky.

The statement said that Jaishankar will speak on 'India-Russia ties in a Changing World' at the prestigious Primakov Institute of World Economy & International Relations in Moscow.

The visit will be in continuation of the frequent high-level visits between the two nations. The Russian Foreign Minister had visited New Delhi in April this year. Jaishankar's visit will further strengthen the 'Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership' between the two countries, the statement said.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin had in a phone conversation reiterated their commitment to further strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India in all spheres.

The last meeting between the two leaders was held in Vladivostok in September 2019. President Putin is scheduled to visit India later this year.