Putin proposes bilateral meeting with Modi during BRICS summit

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Russian President Vladmir Putin on Thursday proposed a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan next month when NSA Ajit Doval called on him in St Petersburg.

The Putin-Doval meeting came nearly three weeks after Modi travelled to Ukranian capital Kyiv and held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Doval is in St Petersburg to attend a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations.

The summit of the grouping will be held in the Russian city of Kazan from October 22-24. Modi is set to attend the summit.

“Vladimir Putin noted the successful development of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia and stressed the importance of security issues in bilateral relations, thanking the Indian side for maintaining dialogue in this area,” a Russian readout on the Putin-Doval meeting said.

It said the Russian president proposed to hold a bilateral meeting with Modi on October 22 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit to “summarise the outcomes of joint work” on the implementation of the agreements reached during the Indian leader’s visit to Moscow and to outline prospects for the near future.

Modi visited Russia in July.

“We are waiting for our good friend Modi and best regards to him,” the Russian media quoted Putin as saying in the meeting with Doval.

On Wednesday, the NSA held wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu focusing on important issues of “mutual interests”.

“Both sides reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed important issues of mutual interest,” the Indian embassy in Russia said on the talks between Doval and Shoigu.

It is understood that Modi’s talks with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on August 23 figured in the talks between the two NSAs.

In his talks with Zelenskyy, Modi said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an “active role” to restore peace in the region.

The prime minister said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Modi’s nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister since its independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with Putin in Moscow.

In the last few days, there have been calls for India’s potential role in pushing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as New Delhi has good relations with both the nations.

On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following her talks with Zelenskyy said India and China can play a role in finding a solution to the dragging conflict.

Putin, speaking at a panel discussion at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russian city of Vladivostok last Thursday named India, Brazil and China as possible intermediaries that could play a role in resolving the conflict.

“First of all, it is the Chinese People’s Republic, Brazil and India — I am in contact with my partners and I have no doubt that the leaders of these countries — and we have relations of trust and confidence with one another — will be really interested and provide a helping hand,” he said.

India has been maintaining that the conflict in Ukraine must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.