Modi to visit Russia and Austria

PRIME minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia and Austria from July 8 to 10, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Thursday.

He will visit Moscow to attend the 22nd India-Russia annual summit to review bilateral ties.

This will be Modi's first trip to Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Modi last visited Russia in 2019 to attend an economic conclave in the far east city of Vladivostok.

So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternately in India and Russia. The last one was held in 2021 in New Delhi.

Russian president Vladimir Putin had visited India to attend the summit during which both sides sealed 28 memorandum of understanding.

Modi and Putin last held bilateral talks on the margins of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Modi has held several telephonic conversations with Putin and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

India has so far not condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

India's import of Russian crude oil has also gone up significantly notwithstanding the G7 price cap and increasing disquiet over the procurement in many Western countries.

In December 2022, the G7 grouping and its allies announced a cap on the price of Russian oil as part of a series of punitive measures against Moscow.

From Russia, Modi will travel to Austria. "This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Austria in 41 years. He will call on Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and hold talks with Chancellor Karl Nehammer," the ministry said. (PTI)