Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to visit India from April 5-6

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit India from April 5 to 6 with an aim to prepare ground for the annual India-Russia summit as well as to discuss bilateral cooperation.

The visit was announced by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in Moscow on Thursday.

On April 5 and 6, Lavrov will visit New Delhi to hold talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Zakharova said.

The Russian foreign ministry tweeted that Lavrov will visit Pakistan on April 6 to 7 during which he will hold talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

"The Ministers will discuss bilateral ties, including economic cooperation and counterterrorism #RussiaPakistan," it said.

The India and Russia annual summit was postponed last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both the countries have a mechanism under which India's prime minister and the Russian president hold a summit meeting annually to review the entire gamut of ties.

So far 20 annual summit meetings have taken place alternately in India and Russia.

Russia has been a time-tested partner for India and the country has been a key pillar of New Delhi's foreign policy.