Modi Set To Visit Russia To Meet Putin After Almost Two Years, Will Be First Indian PM In 41 Years To Visit Austria

After skipping the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to go to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin.

As per the Kremlin, PM Modi will visit Russia on 8 and 9 July and hold talks with President Putin on bilateral ties between India and Russia and several international and regional issues.

As per India's Ministry of External Affairs, President Putin has invited PM Modi to hold the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit where the leaders will review the entire range of multifaceted relations.

In PM Modi's first visit to Russia since the Ukraine war, the leaders will also exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Modi had last visited Russia in 2019 and attended the 20th India-Russia Annual Summit. In the last two years, India tried to balance well between Russia and Ukraine.

Despite calling for peace, India has maintained good relations with Russia by abstaining from voting against it in the United Nations Security Council and buying crude oil from it amid Western sanctions.

Modi had last met Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in September 2022. This means their upcoming meet will be happening after a gap of almost two years.

After Russia, Modi will travel to Austria, marking the first visit by an Indian PM to Austria in 41 years. He will call on President Alexander Van der Bellen and hold talks with Chancellor Karl Nehammer.