On Thursday, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow for in-depth discussions on a variety of topics. They reached an agreement to continue working toward the implementation of the strategic partnership between the United States and Russia.
The Indian embassy in Moscow stated that the conversations were focused on bilateral and regional concerns; however, the embassy did not elaborate on the themes that were discussed.
“NSA Director Ajit Doval phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin. Comprehensive conversation including both bilateral and regional concerns. According to a tweet from the Indian Embassy in Russia, both countries have “agreed to continue working towards implementing the India-Russia strategic relationship.”
On Wednesday, Doval arrived in Russia to start his two-day trip there. Denis Alipov, the Russian Ambassador to New Delhi, stated on Monday that his country is interested in further diversifying its relations with India.
Three months had passed since India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar travelled to Russia, during which time the two countries pledged to expand their economic engagement with one another, including India’s import of petroleum products from its “time-tested” partner. The visit of the NSA to Russia came three months after that trip.
Doval was present at the fifth gathering of Secretaries of Security Councils and NSAs on Afghanistan, which took place on Wednesday and was hosted by Russia.
During the meeting, Doval stated that no country should be permitted to exploit Afghan land to export terrorism and stressed that India will never leave the people of Afghanistan in their time of need. Doval’s comments were made in reference to the fact that the meeting took place.
In addition to Russia and India, representatives from the following countries were present at the meeting: Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Doval’s trip to Moscow comes just a few weeks before the conference of G-20 foreign ministers that will take place in New Delhi. It is anticipated that Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, will go to India in order to participate in the conference on March 1 and 2.
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In spite of growing unease regarding it in many Western nations, India has dramatically increased the amount of crude oil it imports from Russia, and this increase has occurred during the past few months.