NEW DELHI, February 10. /TASS/. Preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to India are underway, Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Denis Alipov said in an interview with TASS.
"In 2025, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership [of Russia and India]. All these years, except for a short period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries' leaders have been interacting regularly at annual bilateral summits, let alone meetings in multilateral formats and on other occasions. For instance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia twice in 2024. Now India is focused on preparing for Putin's visit," Alipov stressed.
The ambassador noted that the agenda of the upcoming talks at the highest level "is not restricted by anything" and added that the two leaders "always have a wide range of issues to discuss - which is not surprising given the size of both economies, the countries’ extensive military-technical cooperation and their traditionally close ties in culture and education."
"We can expect them to further discuss expanding trade and investment relations to bring mutual trade turnover to $100 billion by 2030 - the goal set in 2024," Alipov specified.
Potential
The ambassador said that State Duma (lower chamber of the Russian parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin's recent visit to India "showed great promise of inter-parliamentary and inter-regional cooperation." "In general, business and humanitarian contacts at the level of countries of our region have acquired an impressive and sustained momentum in recent years," he noted.
"Joint work in the fields of railway engineering, metallurgy, petrochemicals, supplies of raw materials, fertilizers, and agricultural products is steadily progressing. Both sides are interested in strengthening cooperation in space and high-tech industries. We are conducting joint research in advanced fields of science and developing artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other cutting-edge innovations," the diplomat noted.
According to Alipov, "interaction in the international arena is no less vigorous. This year it is marked by the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War and the end of World War II." "Russia and India jointly advocate strengthening the central role of the United Nations and fostering multipolarity, promote reform of global governance and actively work in the enlarged BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Group of 20," he added.
Details of the visit
Earlier, Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said at a briefing that India and Russia were agreeing on the dates for Putin's visit to New Delhi, where the traditional annual India-Russia summit will be held this year.
On November 19, 2024, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would visit India and that Moscow and New Delhi would start preparing for the trip. He recalled that the Indian prime minister visited Russia twice in 2024.
Modi made a two-day visit to Moscow in July 2024, during which the 22nd Russia-India Annual Summit was held. In October, he visited Kazan to attend the BRICS Summit.