Modi will visit Russia on 8 and 9 July and hold talks with President Vladimir Putin

"A meeting of Quad Senior Officials was held in the virtual mode on July 03.  Officials from India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. reviewed Quad’s practical cooperation under various Working Groups and exchanged views on key regional and international issues of mutual interest," MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal 

PM Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8th and 9th and hold talks with President Vladimir Putin.

This will be Prime Minister’s first trip to Russia since Moscow 'invaded' Ukraine or the conflict started on Feb 24, 2022. 

Modi and Putin will discuss “prospects for further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, as well as relevant issues on the international and regional agenda,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

"The visit was first announced by Russian officials last month, but the dates had not been previously disclosed," says London's 'The Guardian'. 

Russia has had strong ties with India since the cold war, and Delhi’s importance as a key trading partner for Moscow has grown since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. 

In fact, India and China have become key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the US and its allies that shut most western markets for Russian exports.  

Background note:   

On 23 February, the Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) adopted a bill to repeal the 2012 law which made Russian an official language. 

The bill was not enacted, but the proposal provoked negative reactions in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, intensified by Russian media claiming that the ethnic Russian population was in imminent danger.

On 27 February, an interim government was established and early presidential elections were scheduled. 

The following day, Yanukovych resurfaced in Russia and in a press conference, declared that he remained the acting president of Ukraine, just as Russia was commencing a military campaign in Crimea. 

Leaders of Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych,triggering the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.  

New Delhi has meanwhile (July 4, 2024) asked Moscow for 'a verified stop' to any further recruitment of the citizens of India by the Russian Army. 

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi also stated that making the citizens of India work for the Russian Army would not be 'in consonance' with the partnership between the two nations. It is to be noted that External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar tweeted on July 3 -- “Raised our strong concern on Indian nationals who are currently in the war zone. Pressed for their safe and expeditious return".

Some of these facts also have to be considered and understood.

In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union was the source of about 70% of Indian army weapons, 80% of its air force systems and 85% of its navy platforms.

India bought its first aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, from Russia in 2004. It had served in the former Soviet Union and later in the Russian navy.  With the Russian supply line hit by the fighting in Ukraine, India has been reducing its dependency on Russian arms and diversifying its defence procurements, buying more from the US, Israel, France and Italy.

Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke, under PM Modi’s leadership, India has avoided condemning Russia’s action in Ukraine while emphasising the need for a peaceful settlement. This is not the time of war -- being the refrain from Modi himself. 

"The partnership between Moscow and Delhi has become fraught, however, since Russia started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the hostilities in Ukraine.

Modi on Thursday skipped the summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter western alliances.

Modi sent his foreign minister Jaishankar to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana", - The Guardian.   

The meeting is/was attended by Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Modi last visited Russia in 2019 for an economic forum in the far eastern port of Vladivostok. He last travelled to Moscow in 2015. Putin last met with Modi in September 2022 at a summit of the SCO in Uzbekistan. In 2021, Putin also travelled to Delhi and held talks with the Indian leader.

Tensions between Beijing and Delhi have continued since a confrontation in June 2020 along the disputed China-India border in which rival troops fought with rocks, clubs and fists. At least 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers were killed.