NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dine with Russian President Vladimir Putin at his dacha (residence) located in the Moscow suburb of Novo Ogarevo when he lands in Russia on Monday afternoon, an “unusual and significant” gesture on Putin’s part that will give both leaders a private moment before their series of talks in the Kremlin the day after.
Accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Modi’s visit is expected to reset the bilateral relationship that has been undergoing a part-existential crisis in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
“The PM’s visit is timely as there are some inerasable durables in this strategic partnership. Despite global changes, the essential wellsprings of the strategic partnership are stable and solid. Each side has recognised that the commonalities in their geopolitical outlooks are more extensive than commonly recognised,” India’s former ambassador to Russia Venkatesh Verma told this reporter.
A joint statement, still being finalised hours before the PM’s departure it may or may not be called a “vision document” aims at giving the bilateral relationship “a vision of the development of our cooperation in the coming decade or so”, according to Zamir Kabulov, a senior official in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In an exclusive interview with this reporter in Moscow recently, Kabulov said that the Indian PM’s visit is not about signing “agreements, but about a roadmap” of future cooperation. He had added Russia hoped India would not pursue an expanding relationship with another country, such as the US, “at the expense of Russia”.
Along with the reinvention of the grander strategic partnership between the two countries, the PM is also expected to push for the discharge of Indian nationals fighting in the Russian army, including on the frontlines of its war in Ukraine.
India’s ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar confirmed to this reporter that the Indian Embassy in Moscow is working on soon bringing back the mortal remains of Tejpal Singh, a young man from Amritsar recently killed in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, as well as another Indian national who was also killed in the fighting.
“We have a list of around 50 Indian nationals who have joined the Russian army. Of the two Indians unfortunately killed in the war in Ukraine, including Tejpal Singh, we are in the process of bringing back their remains,” Ambassador Kumar told reporters.