Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 29: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to visit India this week, with the main focus on talks on a payment system for New Delhi’s purchases of oil and military hardware from Moscow.
Lavrov is expected to visit India either on Thursday or Friday after a two-day visit to China, according to reports. The details of Lavrov’s visit to India are still being finalised, according to people familiar with the situation.
It would be Russia’s first high-level visit to India since its military incursion against Ukraine began on February 24. Neither the Ministry of External Affairs nor the Russian Foreign Ministry have issued an official statement on the scheduled visit.
In the previous few weeks, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, and the foreign ministers of Austria and Greece have all paid visits to India. On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will travel to India.
According to the sources, the main emphasis of Lavrov’s anticipated visit will be a payment method for India’s procurement of Russian crude oil and military hardware.