Dr. S Jaishankar, the minister for external affairs, will travel to Moscow on Monday. Jaishankar will speak with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during his two-day visit to Russia. The development is seen as a continuation of the high-level conversation between Moscow and New Delhi. Jaishankar and Lavrov will talk about a variety of bilateral issues during the trip, including energy cooperation and other international concerns including the continuing Russia-Ukraine situation.
According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release from last week, “Issues pertaining to bilateral economic cooperation in various domains will be discussed.” The conference takes place in the wake of recent events, during which Russian President Vladimir Putin complimented India and declared that “there is no question” that it will provide “great achievements” in terms of growth. The Washington Post claimed over the weekend that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered to mediate in peace talks.
While the entire world has been watching India’s evidently successful balancing act throughout the Russia-Ukraine crisis, New Delhi is being seen as a potential negotiator if it comes to facilitating peace negotiations between the two parties due to its access to both Moscow and Kyiv. In that regard, Jaishankar’s visit, which also occurs a few days before the G-20 Summit in Bali, is seen as an introduction to PM Narendra Modi’s rumoured meeting with Vladimir Putin in the near future.
