As war is continuing in Ukraine, India will see a series of high-profile visits in the next few days starting with British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss and then Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. It will be the first visit by a senior Russian minister to New Delhi since war began in late February.
India, so far, has abstained from voting against Russia in the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA)on the issue. Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for corona days ahead of a scheduled visit to India to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. His scheduled visit is from April three to five. Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will also arrive here on April one for a three-day tour to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visiting dignitary will also visit Varanasi.
The two leaders will review the current status of their long standing historical ties and explore ways to further enhance co-operation in the fields of power generation, connectivity, people to people contact and trade. The British Foreign Secretary will visit India on Thursday and is likely discuss the ramifications of the Ukraine conflict with her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar.
Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)on Monday said Truss will hold consultations with Jaishankar on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Last few weeks have seen a flurry of visits to India of several Western leaders, including the foreign ministers of Austria, Greece and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs."The visit will also serve to further deepen our partnership across various sectors such as trade and investment, science, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate cooperation, education and digital communications," the ministry said in a statement in reference to UK minister’s visit.
She will also participate in the inaugural edition of the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum, a track 1.5 Dialogue between the two countries. The relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in May last year during the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson.
In the summit, the two sides adopted a 10-year-roadmap to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections, among others.This will be the second visit of the UK Foreign Secretary to India since the virtual summit. Her visit will also provide an opportunity to assess the progress on the 'Roadmap 2030'. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov will visit Delhi later this week, sources said. Lavrov is likely to focus on strategic issues resulting from the war, as well as specific discussions on purchasing Russian oil, payment mechanisms and sanctions against Russian banks with Jaishankar.
The two sides are also likely to review any possible impact on the unhindered supply of weapons systems. They include the Rs 50,000 crore S-400 missile system and production of AK -203 assault rifles in India. This deal is worth over Rs 7,000 crores.
The government indicated in Parliament last week that it is considering offers of discounted Russian oil and a special inter-ministerial group headed by the Finance Ministry is looking into the payments issues for Indian importers and exporters that arise fromwar and Western sanctions.Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard will be in Delhi mid-week as well, while Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz will arrive ahead of Israel Prime Minister Bennet's visit next Sunday.
In addition, Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are expected to travel to the US to meet their counterparts Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin later this month, where possible US sanctions on the S400 purchase could come up.
On Nepal Prime Minister’s visit, the ministry said he will be accompanied by a high-level delegation besides his wife.
"India and Nepal enjoy age-old and special ties of friendship and cooperation. In recent years, the partnership has witnessed significant growth in all areas of cooperation," the MEA said in a statement. "The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity to the two sides to review this wide-ranging cooperative partnership and to progress it further for the benefit of the two peoples," it said.
The MEA said Deuba will call on the Vice President and hold talks with Prime Minister Modi on April 2. National Security Advisor(NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also call on the visiting leader.
