India to host annual India-Russia summit in Delhi soon: MEA

India will host the annual India-Russia summit in Delhi, and the dates will be finalised soon, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday.

The summit, expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, aims to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

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“India-Russia summit is important. Last annual summit was held in Moscow. It is time for us to host the summit in Delhi, and the dates will be worked out between both sides, keeping in mind what is mutually convenient to both sides,” Jaiswal said at his weekly press briefing.

The India-Russia annual summit is the highest institutionalised dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between India and Russia. The last summit was held in Moscow, and now it’s India’s turn to host the event in Delhi.

The Annual Summit between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Russia is the highest institutionalised dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between India and Russia. So far, 22 Annual Summits have taken place alternately in India and Russia. The last Summit was held on July 8-9, 2024, in Moscow. Following the Summit, a joint statement titled “India-Russia: Enduring and Expanding Partnership” was released. A separate leaders’ joint statement on the development of strategic areas of India-Russia economic cooperation for the period up to 2030 was also released, apart from the signing of 9 MoUs/Agreements.

During the visit, Prime Minister Modi was conferred Russia’s highest national honour, the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, for the Prime Minister’s outstanding contribution to India-Russia ties. The leaders also maintain regular contact through telephone conversations to review progress on bilateral cooperation and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Russia has been a longstanding and time-tested partner for India. The development of India-Russia relations has been a key pillar of India’s foreign policy. Since the signing of the “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000 (during the visit of President Putin), India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas, including political, security, defence, trade and economy, science & technology, culture, and people-to-people ties.

During the visit of the Russian President to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.”

During the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit held in Delhi earlier this month, Prime Minister Modi and President Putin discussed regional and global developments, including post-pandemic global economic recovery and the situation in Afghanistan. The summit resulted in the signing of 28 agreements across various sectors like trade, energy, science, technology, and defense.