NEW DELHI, December 23. /TASS/. At least five meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be organized in 2020, Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev said on Monday.

"We see the perspective for further invigoration of the bilateral top-level dialogue. As of today, at least five such meetings can be organized. First, during Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Russia in May for the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War (the Eastern Front during WWII where Russia fought against Nazi Germany - TASS). Then, there will be meetings on the sidelines of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization - TASS) and BRICS (an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - TASS) event. And, eventually, a traditional bilateral summit - next year we expect the Russian president here, in India. And there could be meetings on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty events," he told a news conference in the Russian embassy dedicated to Russia’s presidency in BRICS and the SCO.

"Apart from that, top-level meetings can be organized within the RIC (Russia, India, China - TASS), East Asia Summit or other formats," he added.

According to the Russian diplomat, these meetings would promote the establishment of a new model of interstate relations within promising formats, such as BRICS, SCO, and RIC.

"This model will be a viable alternative to the world of sanctions, pressure and dictation, the world of unilateral moves and blackmailing. No doubt, it will help our countries to gain more weight on the global arena, make their positions more audible, win over the sympathies of other states and promote bilateral relations," Kudashev stressed.

In 2019, Putin and Modi met four times: during a bilateral summit in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, and on the sidelines of the SCO (Bishkek), Group of Twenty (Osaka), and BRICS (Brasilia) summits.