Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not travel to Russia for the annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin this year, sources said citing “scheduling issues”.
The annual summit between PM Modi and Putin is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The decision to cancel the summit was likely taken after veiled threats by Putin to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war, according to Bloomberg News.
However, according to another report in The Indian Express, Russia has not proposed the summit and no dates have been announced as the year draws to a close.
According to a report in The Indian Express, 21 annual summits have been held between the two nations so far and the last one took place in December last year in New Delhi. It was Russia’s turn this year to host the meeting.
However, Putin is likely to participate in the G20 Summit in New Delhi next year, according to Russia’s G20 (Sherpa) Svetlana Lukash. Lukash said the final decision will be taken by the Russian President himself but she said there are chances.
“I hope that, of course, [Russia’s president] will go [to the G20 Summit]. But this, in any case, is up to him to decide. Now, when the next summit is one year ahead, I cannot give an answer to such a question. The way I see it, that there are all chances for this,” Lukash was quoted as saying by news agency TASS.
The G20 Leadership Summit will be held on September 9 and September 10 next year.
Modi and Putin earlier held a discussion in September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) being held in Samarkand in Uzbekistan. They have also spoken on the phone a number of times this year.
Modi told Putin that it is no more an era of war and raised food, fertiliser and fuel security among the major concerns of the world at the moment.
“I know that today’s era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this,” Modi told Putin.
Putin replied that he understood PM Modi’s concerns about the war. “I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine, and I know about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible. We will keep you abreast of what is happening there,” Putin was quoted as saying.
India, which has become one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil along with China since the war began in February, has not explicitly condemned what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
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