Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit India next year as part of a laid down structure between the two countries for reciprocal annual visits by their leaders, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
The two sides are looking at the possibility of the visit but nothing has been finalised yet, they said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the Russian President to visit India when the two leaders held summit talks in Moscow in July.
He also visited Kazan in Russia last month to attend the BRICS summit.
Earlier Tuesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a video interaction with senior Indian Editors in Delhi referred to the strong bilateral relationship between India and Russia, and added Putin’s visit is on the cards. He did not give any specific timeline or make a definitive announcement of the visit.
“We are looking forward to the visit. The dates will be mutually worked out soon,” Peskov said.
The media interaction was organised by the Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency.
Asked to comment on US President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles, Peskov said Russia’s military capabilities are incomparable to those of Ukraine and it’s unlikely that any missile will help Ukraine
Peskov’s comments came on a day when President Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.
Putin’s endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022.
“Biden administration stands for war, not for peace.”
“The authority in the White House takes a decision to use their weapons against the Russian Federation, and this is a striking example of the new environment surrounding our country,” Peskov said. “This makes it necessary for us to ensure that our nuclear conception is updated.”