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Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India soon, the Kremlin said today, adding that Moscow and New Delhi are "working on the dates". The visit, which is likely to be early next year, will be part of a laid down structure between the two countries for reciprocal annual visits by their leaders.
Without giving any specific details on the agenda of the visit, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "We are looking forward to the visit. The dates will be mutually worked out soon."
The announcement of Vladimir Putin's visit to India came on the 1,000th day of the war in Ukraine and on the same day that Russia updated its nuclear doctrine for a second time, allowing Moscow to target non-nuclear states should the need arise. Despite efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict has seen a sharp escalation in the last few days with US President Joe Biden giving the green signal to Kyiv to use long-range missiles to target territory deep within Russia.
President Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during his visit. The two leaders had last met during PM Modi's visit to Kazan in Russia for the BRICS Summit in late-October. During the visit, PM Modi had extended an invitation to President Putin to visit India.
In their last meeting Prime Minister Modi had conveyed to President Vladimir Putin that India believes in peaceful solutions to conflicts, referring to the Russia-Ukraine issue. "We have been in touch with all sides in the Russia-Ukraine problem. It has always been our position that all conflict can be solved with dialogue. We believe there should be peaceful solutions to conflicts. India is always ready to help bring peace," PM Modi had said.
India and Russia share a time-tested 'special and privileged strategic partnership', and PM Modi has said New Delhi will help in whatever way it can to help end the war and find a peaceful solution that would be acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine.
PM Modi had even sent National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, reportedly with a peace plan to Moscow where he had a meeting with Vladimir Putin.
Since his third successive term as Prime Minister began in May this year, Narendra Modi has shown the importance New Delhi attaches to its relations with Moscow by visiting Russia twice within six months. PM Modi has also visited Ukraine - a historic first by any Indian prime minister - since the formation of the country. In Ukraine, PM Modi met President Zelensky, and both leaders agreed on finding a peaceful solution to the over-two-year war in the country.
PM Modi has been stressing that "This is not an era for war", and that "solutions can not be found on the battlefield. It can only be found through diplomacy and dialogue" - remarks that were appreciated not just by Kyiv and Moscow, but also earned praise by leaders in Europe and the US.
India and Russia share strong bilateral ties and trade between the two nations have continued despite the war in Ukraine.