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Ahead of the 2 + 2 ministerial dialogue later today, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that the India-Russia partnership is special and ties between the two countries have been remarkably strong in the world of rapid geopolitical changes.
"The partnership between India and Russia is special and unique. I am confident that our discussions today will be very fruitful. The annual India-Russia summit is taking place after a gap of two years today," said Jaishankar during his meeting with Lavrov. "Today we have an opportunity not only to discuss our bilateral ties and global situation," he added. Underscoring the importance of the India-Russia annual summit, the minister said, "Prime Minister Modi and President Putin share a relationship of great trust and confidence. We are looking forward to some very significant outcomes from the Summit." Describing India-Russia ties as "very special and unique", Jaishankar said, "India is very conscious that in the world of rapid geopolitical changes, it has been remarkably steady and strong. We are very satisfied with our bilateral relations and the state of our cooperations." The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) last month said that the agenda for the "two plus two" format dialogue between India and the Russian Federation will cover "political and defence issues of mutual interest". Earlier today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu here at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan. Later in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold the 21st annual India-Russia summit. It will be the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in November 2019. On Saturday, the Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev had said that he is expecting a "sizeable and formidable joint political statement" from the annual summit. Both countries are expected to sign more than 10 agreements following annual talks between PM Modi and President Putin. These agreements will be in the fields of space, culture, science and technology, defence etc. (ANI)
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