Russian deputy PM's visit to India in March cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak: Sources

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev's visit to India scheduled for later this month has been cancelled in view of the coronavirus outbreak, Russian diplomatic sources said.

The Russian deputy prime minister was expected to visit New Delhi with a large delegation around the end of this month to take forward discussions on India's participation in developing the resource-rich Far East and Arctic regions.

The delegation led by Trutnev, the Russian president's special envoy for the Far Eastern federal district, was expected to hold several key business and political meetings here with a focus on strengthening bilateral economic ties, the sources said.

However, the visit has been cancelled in view of the coronavirus outbreak, they said.

India and Russia have finalised the broad contours of an ambitious government-to-government agreement for long-term import of crude oil by India from Russia's Far East region.

The pact is likely to be inked during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit in October for the annual summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At present the volume of bilateral trade between India and Russia is USD 11 billion. Both the countries have set a target of enhancing it to USD 30 billion by 2025.

India's ties with Russia are largely driven by close cooperation in defence and civil nuclear energy sectors. But the two countries in the last few years have focused on expanding the cooperation to oil and gas sectors.