EAM Jaishankar arrives in Russia on three-day visit

Moscow, Nov 17 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Russia on a three-day visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of State Council meeting.

At the airport, Jaishankar was received by Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar and Alexei Pavlovsky, Director of the Second Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

Later in the day, he will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They are expected to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues, including cooperation within the SCO, BRICS, the UN, and the G-20, state-run TASS news agency reported.

They are also likely to touch upon preparations for President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi. President Putin is expected to visit India around December 5 to hold annual summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Putin had last visited New Delhi in 2021.

On Tuesday, Jaishankar would represent Prime Minister Modi at the SCO meeting of the prime ministers' council, which is likely to be addressed by President Putin.

On Wednesday, he would virtually inaugurate two new Indian consulates in Kazan and Ekaterinburg. India already has consulates in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. PTI VS ZH ZH