The Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov has arrived in India on Thursday on a two-day official visit, his first trip to the nation since Russia called for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last month.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Lavrov would be meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi & Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Friday.
Whereas a media advisory on Lavrov’s visit issued by the Ministry of External Affairs has not mentioned any meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
People who are aware of the preparations for the talks said India is also likely to press to ensure the timely delivery of several military hardware and components of the S-400 missile systems by Russia.
The Russian foreign minister arrived in India after completing a two-day visit to China. His visit to India coincides with that of US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to India. EU Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific Gabriele Visentin has also visited New Delhi earlier this week.
Moreover, India has not yet criticized Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and it has also abstained from the votes at the United Nations platforms in denouncing the Russian aggression.
Meanwhile, India has abstained from the resolution on Thursday, pushed by Russia on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, which was considered as reflective of its neutral position on the conflict.
India has been pushing for the resolution of the crisis through diplomacy as well as dialogue.
Modi has held telephone conversations with President of Russia Vladimir Putin on February 24, March 2 & March 7.
Moreover, Modi had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy twice.