NEW DELHI (CU)_India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will pay a two-day visit to Russia starting Wednesday (Feb 17), the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. During the visit, Shringla is expected to hold the next round of India-Russia Foreign Office Consultations with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, the Ministry added.
Moreover, Shringla is also expected to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, in order to discuss several issues of “regional and international importance”.
This will be the Indian Foreign Secretary’s first visit abroad this year, which, according to the Ministry, signifies the importance New Delhi attaches to its relations with Moscow.
“Despite the Covid-19 pandemic situation, India and Russia have sustained the momentum of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries,” the statement read.
The visit will take place in the backdrop of the United States’ objection to New Delhi’s S400 missile defence system deal with Moscow, which prompted Washington to threaten India with sanctions, under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The US$5.43 billion deal was formally signed on 5 October 2018, and the deliveries of the missile system are expected by the end of this year.
Nevertheless, last week, the South Asian nation asserted that it would go ahead with the deal, notwithstanding pressure from the United States to scrap the agreement. Discussing the matter, Indian Ambassador to Russia, D B Venkatesh Varma, signalled that India would have a number of high-level contacts with Russia beginning this month, in preparation for President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India later this year.
