India-Russia 2+2 dialogue to cover political, defence issues: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the agenda will cover 'political and defence issues of mutual interest'

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday said that the agenda for the "two plus two" format dialogue between India and the Russian Federation, which is scheduled for December 6, will cover "political and defence issues of mutual interest".

Speaking at the press briefing, Bagchi said, "the agenda for the dialogue will cover political and defence issues of mutual interest. The establishment of this new mechanism of two plus two dialogue is expected to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries."

The MEA spokesperson informed that the first meeting of the "two plus two" dialogue between India and the Russian Federation at the level of foreign and defence ministers will be held in New Delhi on December 6.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will represent the Indian side of the dialogue, whereas the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will be visiting New Delhi on December 5-6 to represent their nation.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also arrive in New Delhi on December 6 for the annual India-Russia summit.

This will be the first face to face meeting between Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the meeting on the sidelines of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Brasilia in November 2019, said Bagchi.

He further said, since then, there have been six telephonic conversations between the two leaders. Apart from the virtual meetings that they've attended for multilateral summits.

"The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between our two countries," Bagchi said.

"The summit will afford an opportunity to exchange views on regional multilateral and international issues of mutual interest. The visit is in continuation of the tradition of annual summits alternately in India and Russia. and we are confident the visit will further provide an impetus to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership," he added.