Russian Presidential Adviser for Foreign Affairs Yuri Ushakov announced on Friday that President Vladimir Putin plans to visit India in December.
Ushakov told reporters that the Russian president will discuss his upcoming December visit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next Monday in China.
Putin and Modi are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), established by China and Russia in 2001 to focus on security in Central Asia and the wider region.
According to Ushakov, Putin's meeting with Modi will be the first this year, but the two “have repeatedly maintained contact by telephone.”
It is noteworthy that Modi travelled to Russia last year twice — first to Moscow for talks with Putin in July, his first trip to Russia since the war against Ukraine in 2022, and then to Kazan in October for the summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies.
Putin is scheduled to participate in the summit and hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines, as part of a four-day visit to China from August 31 to September 3.
The Kremlin reported that Putin will also hold extensive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and participate in a large military parade there to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Ushakov explained that the Russian leader is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iranian President Masoud Peskov next Monday, in addition to his meeting with Modi, as well as other meetings.
Ushakov added that Russian officials are "exploring the possibility of holding a bilateral meeting" between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing, where Kim will also participate in the military parade.
