New Delhi: Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed by different nations over Russia, the State Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to visit India this week. The key focus of the visit is expected to be discussions on a payment system for New Delhi’s procurement of oil and military hardware from Moscow, news agency PTI reported quoting sources, on Monday.
Reportedly, Lavrov is expected to travel to India either on Thursday or Friday after concluding a two-day visit to China. People familiar with the matter told the news agency that the details of Lavrov’s visit to India are still being finalised. It would be the highest-level visit from Russia to India after Moscow launched its military offensive against Ukraine on February 24. There has been no official word on the proposed visit either by the Ministry of External Affairs or by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
There has been a flurry of high-level visits to India in the last few weeks including by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and Foreign Ministers of Austria and Greece. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is scheduled to visit India on Thursday.
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On Mr Lavrov’s proposed visit, the sources told news agency PTI that the main focus is likely to be a payment system for India’s procurement of Russian crude oil and military hardware. The western sanctions on Russia have created difficulties in making payments to that country. It is learnt that both sides have been looking at activating a rupee-ruble payment system.
Unlike many other leading powers, India has not yet criticised Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and it abstained from the votes at the UN platforms in condemning the Russian aggression. Earlier on last Thursday, India abstained on a resolution pushed by Russia on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, which was seen as reflective of its neutral position on the conflict.
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