New Delhi: According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will begin his two-day official visit to New Delhi from Thursday. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is visiting India for the first time since Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine, will be here till Friday.
Why is the visit of the Foreign Minister of Russia important?
Lavrov will call on External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar during his two-day visit. The visit is seen as an important engagement with India as it continues amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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India blocked UN General Assembly resolutions which strongly condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. India continues to buy Russian oil and other goods despite pressure from Washington. US President Joe Biden last week described India as “somewhat unstable” on Russia.
Lavrov’s visit to India comes at a time when US Deputy National Security Advisor Dalip Singh and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are also visiting the country. German Foreign and Security Policy Adviser Jens Plotner is visiting India on Wednesday.
The focus of Lavrov’s visit is likely to be the focus of Lavrov’s visit on the back of sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow, procuring discounted Russian crude and putting in place a “rupee-ruble payment system for bilateral trade”.
According to a Bloomberg report, Russian central bank officials are likely to visit India next week to discuss the details of the payment system. India may also emphasize the issue of “timely delivery of various military hardware” and “components of the S-400 missile system by Russia”.
According to the ANI report, Lavrov is currently holding multinational meetings in Tunxi, China. The Russian Foreign Minister is also holding multinational talks on Afghanistan with representatives of Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Russian Foreign Minister held a meeting with representatives of China and Pakistan on Wednesday.
Lavrov said during a conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, “Those who tried to make Afghanistan the center of world politics are now trying to create Ukraine to replace Afghanistan. And we all understand that this is the case.” What.”
The leaders are also going to attend a separate meeting of the “Extended Troika” with special Afghan envoys from China and the US.