Against the backdrop of growing uncertainty in trade ties with the United States, India is on track to intensify engagements with Russia and China in the coming days. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Russia on August 21 to hold discussions with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, while officials here are preparing to host Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before that, sources here have confirmed.
“The Ministers will discuss key issues on our bilateral agenda, as well as key aspects of cooperation within international framework,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry, announcing Mr. Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow. Mr. Jaishankar’s visit is part of the preparatory consultation for the next Russia-India annual summit for which President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India later this year.
The meeting between Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Lavrov comes days after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visited Russia, where he met his counterpart Sergey Shoigu and had a special audience with President Putin. Soon thereafter, Mr. Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation on Friday that Mr. Modi described as “detailed”.
Border discussions
India is yet to officially announce the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister though sources indicated that it is being scheduled ahead of Mr. Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow. Sources said the visit is understandably aimed at continuing high-level discussions on the India-China border issue, and Mr. Wang will meet National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and others during his visit.
