New Delhi, Nov. 28: Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit India on December 4-5 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visit is set to strengthen ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’, exchange views on regional and global issues.

Putin’s visit next week will give both countries an opportunity to review progress in their relations. “The forthcoming state visit will provide an opportunity for the leadership of India and Russia to … set the vision for strengthening the ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’ and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest,” MEA said in a statement released on their website.

Putin, who has visited India regularly since October 2000, had last visited New Delhi in 2021.

This is part of the annual bilateral summit since 2000, and there have been 22 annual summits which have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit was held on July 8-9, 2024, in Moscow when Indian PM Narendra Modi travelled there.

Modi and Putin had met in Tianjin on September 1 on the sidelines of the SCO leaders’ summit on August 31-September 1, when Modi also confirmed that Putin would be travelling to India in December this year.

During President Putin’s visit, the two sides aim to finalise a number of bilateral agreements and also announce several new initiatives and projects. “We look forward to their (project) finalisation in the coming days. These will certainly add more substance and texture to our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership,” EAM S Jaishankar said during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow to discuss details of the summit.

“We will also exchange views on the complex global situation with the openness that has always characterised our ties. This includes the Ukraine conflict, as also the Middle East and Afghanistan amongst others,” Jaishankar added.

Following the imposition of 50% tariffs on India by the US President Donald Trump said last month, after a call with PM Narendra Modi, that they discussed trade and India’s move to cut purchase of Russian oil.

However, New Delhi has reiterated several times that its import policies are guided entirely by the objective to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario.

Speaking on the same, Jaishankar said, “India supports recent efforts towards establishing peace. We hope that all parties approach that goal constructively. An early cessation of the conflict and the ensuring of an enduring peace is in the interest of the entire international community.”-Agencies