External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Moscow on August 23 and 24 for talks with senior Russian officials, ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India for the BRICS leaders’ summit in September.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Jaishankar will co-chair the 27th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.
He will also meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss regional and global developments. The meeting will be their second in a month.
Jaishankar last met Lavrov in Manila on July 22 on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meetings. They reviewed bilateral ties, including trade and investment, energy, connectivity, science and technology and mobility, besides exchanging views on the Ukraine conflict and the Gulf situation.
The upcoming visit follows a diplomatic strain between New Delhi and Moscow over the deaths of four Indian seafarers in a Russian missile strike on a merchant vessel off Ukraine on July 19.
India summoned Russian Charge d’Affaires Vladimir Ladanov on July 21 and conveyed its “unequivocal condemnation” and “grave concern” over the incident. New Delhi said attacks targeting commercial shipping undermine the safety and stability of international maritime commerce and stressed that the loss of civilian lives was unacceptable.
Jaishankar subsequently raised concerns over the safety of Indian seafarers with Lavrov during their July 22 meeting.