PM Modi To Visit Russia On July 8, Say Sources

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to travel to Russia on July 8, diplomatic sources have told NDTV, to hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin under the much-delayed annual summit mechanism.

This comes days after a Kremlin official in Moscow said active preparations are underway for PM Modi's state visit to Russia.

"I can confirm that we are preparing a visit by the prime minister of India. We cannot (say) the dates as yet, because the dates are announced by the parties in agreement," Yuri Ushakov, an assistant to the Russian president, said on Tuesday.

"But we are actively preparing. I will emphasise once again, this visit will take place," he told reporters, replying to a question.

Putin was sworn-in as the President of Russia for the fifth consecutive time in May this year, while Narendra Modi too took the oath as Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive term on June 9.

If the visit takes place, it will be PM Modi's first trip to Russia since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A longstanding ally of Russia, India has shied away from explicit condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine.

President Putin last visited New Delhi in 2021 for the annual India-Russia Summit, which hasn't been held in the past two years.

PM 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.