In-Person PM Modi-President Putin India-Russia Summit Unlikely This Year

New Delhi: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to travel to Russia this year for an annual bilateral summit between the two countries, sources have told NDTV.

The G20 summit in Indonesia’s Bali was PM Modi’s last visit abroad this year, NDTV has learnt from government sources.

With the last annual summit held in India in December last year – which saw Russian President Vladimir Putin travel to India for a six-hour visit – it was Russia’s turn this year to host the meeting.

But now in its 11th month of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has not proposed a summit and no dates have been announced as the year draws to a close.

Last year’s visit by Mr Putin was his only second visit out of Russia since the pandemic, and was seen as a message of how seriously Russia sees its ties with India.

However, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, there has been great pressure from the Western nations on India to re-evaluate its relationship with Russia.

India has managed to ward off the pressure and has underlined its historical ties with Russia and even increased its fuel imports from the country from less than 2 per cent in February to 22 per cent in October.

But in a sign of India’s growing discomfiture, PM Modi told President Putin that this was “not an era of war” when the two met for a bilateral meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit In September.

The statement was welcomed by the West and even found a mention at the G20 Summit in Bali, but has not placated Ukraine – also a key partner for India.

In an interview with NDTV earlier this week, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister criticised India for ramping up Russian oil purchases as “morally inappropriate”.