Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar has said that India-Russia relations remain very steady and very strong because they are based on strategic convergence, geopolitical interests, and because they are mutually beneficial. The Union Minister is on a five-day visit to Russia as a part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two sides during which he held meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

On Wednesday, the Union Minister also called on Russian President Vladimir Putin at Kremlin, who handed him an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia next year.

Addressing the media along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, Dr Jaishankar informed that they discussed the global strategic situation, spoke about Ukraine, Gaza, the Indo-Pacific, ASEAN, Afghanistan, and UN-related matters and concluded that “It’s been a very, very good discussion”.

EAM informed that the countries discussed long-term trade arrangements, mutual investments and the need to progress on a bilateral investment treaty. He disclosed that the two countries discussed cooperation in relationship to the Russian Far East (RFE) and that India expects a delegation from the region for an “important conference” to be held next month. The RFE region is rich in oil, natural gas, pulp, wood, diamonds, iron ore, coal, gold, silver, lead, zinc, and fish.

Further, Dr Jaishankar mentioned that on Tuesday, India and Russia signed two important amendments, which will take the Kudankulam nuclear power project forward. KNPP is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.