Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) with Vladimir Putin
Photo : AFP
New Delhi: Russian Foreign Minister
If reports are to be believed then Lavrov is scheduled to arrive in India on either Thursday or Friday after completing a two-day visit to China.
If Lavrov visits India, it would be the first high-level visit from Russia to India after the Russian forces launched their offensive against
There has been a string of high-level, diplomat visits to India in the last couple of weeks. India first hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi followed by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and foreign ministers of Austria and Greece.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is scheduled to visit India on Thursday.
According to reports, the main focus of Lavrov’s visit would be holding discussions on a payment system for India’s procurement of Russian crude oil and military hardware.
Russia has been India’s major supplier of military hardware and New Delhi has been worried about possible delays in the supply of some key platforms and equipment because of the Ukraine conflict.
India has also decided to purchase discounted crude oil from Russia, triggering concern among a number of Western powers.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said around two weeks back that India taking the Russian offer of discounted crude oil would not be a violation of the US sanctions on Moscow but underlined that countries should also think about “where you want to stand” on the Russian action.
