Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin who conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit next month and said that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Tthe Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement, “President Putin conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2023 and informed that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.”
The PMO said, “While expressing an understanding of Putin’s decision not to attend the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Modi thanked the President for Russia’s consistent support on all initiatives under India’s G20 Presidency.” The two leaders agreed to remain in touch, the statement added. Modi and Putin also reviewed progress on a number of issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the recently-concluded BRICS Summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg, the PMO’s statement said.
The development comes after Kremlin had announced last Friday that President Putin would not personally attend the meeting of G20 leaders in Delhi. “No, the President has no such plans”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had said.
In a statement released on Monday, the Kremlin said that during the call between the two leaders, topical issues of "Russian-Indian relations, steadily developing in the spirit of the special and privileged strategic partnership, were touched upon. The positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation was underscored. A mutual commitment to the consistent implementation of large-scale projects in the energy sector and joint work on the expansion of international transport and logistics infrastructure was expressed.”
The Kremlin said Putin once again warmly congratulated Prime Minister Modi on the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 and that they reaffirmed their willingness to further develop bilateral cooperation in the space exploration sector.
The Kremlin also stated, “The results of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg were discussed. The significance of the agreements reached, primarily, the expansion of BRICS, which will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of its influence in international affairs, was emphasised.”
"The two sides agreed on close interaction in the context of Russia's BRICS chairmanship starting on January 1, 2024. An exchange of views was also held with regard to the forthcoming G20 summit in New Delhi," it added.