EAM Jaishankar to visit Russia on Sunday; talks with Lavrov

Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in September for the BRICS leaders’ summit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be on a two-day visit to Moscow beginning Sunday to hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that Jaishankar will undertake an official visit to Russia on August 23-24 to co-chair the 27th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

This meeting will take place with Denis Manturov. Jaishankar will also meet Lavrov — the second meeting in a month — and exchange perspectives on regional and global issues, according to an official statement On July 22, a day after India summoned the Russian Charge d'Affaires (CDA) and conveyed “unequivocal condemnation” and “grave concern” over the deaths of four Indian seafarers in a Russian missile strike on a merchant vessel off the coast of Ukraine on July 19, Jaishankar had met Lavrov and had reiterated Delhi’s “strong concern regarding the safety of Indian seafarers in the region”.

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Jaishankar, who had met Lavrov in Manila on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Foreign ministers meeting, had said that “an in-depth” review of bilateral relations was undertaken where they “discussed various aspects of our partnership, including trade and investment, energy and connectivity, science and technology, and mobility. Also exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict and the Gulf situation”.

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India had summoned the Russian Charge d'Affaires (CDA) Vladimir Ladanov and had conveyed that “such attacks undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce”. “The Russian Chargé d’Affaires was requested to convey India’s strong concerns to his authorities that the targeting of commercial shipping and the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives are unacceptable and must be avoided,” it said.

While India was quick to condemn the attack on July 20, it did not name Russia. The naming, and summoning, of a Russian diplomat on July 21 was significant, considering Delhi is perceived to be closer to Moscow and has done the diplomatic tightrope walk over the last four years of the Russia-Ukraine war.

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