EAM Jaishankar Starts His 1st Visit To Moscow Since Russia-Ukraine War

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar begins a two-day visit to Russia on Monday to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, as part of the two sides' regular high-level dialogue.

The two sides are expected to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues and exchange views on various regional and international developments.

Jaishankar will meet with Denis Manturov, the Russian Federation's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

“Issues pertaining to bilateral economic cooperation in various domains will be discussed,” an earlier release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Jaishankar's visit comes on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin's praise for Indians. On the occasion of Russia's Unity Day on 4 November, Putin said that India has tremendous potential and will achieve outstanding development results.

“There is no doubt that India will achieve outstanding results in terms of development and almost one-and-a-half billion people: now that's potential,” the Russian President said, according to a Reuters translation of the speech originally delivered in Russian.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict earlier this year, India's bilateral ties with Russia have been scrutinised by the West due to an increase in oil imports from sanction-hit Moscow. The conflict in Ukraine, which entered the ninth month, has had a significant impact on global food security, resulting in a sharp increase in crude prices.

According to a survey conducted by the Delhi-based think-tank, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), the majority of young Indians believe Russia has been India's most reliable partner since the country's independence in 1947.

Notably, India has not condemned Russia since the beginning of the conflict and has maintained its independence. In a number of UN forums, New Delhi has repeatedly called for an end to violence and advocated for the path of peace and diplomacy.

According to Jaishankar, the Ukraine conflict has significantly broadened the scope of political leveraging, with trade, debt and even tourism being weaponised as points of pressure.

“This stems from the weaponisation of everything. We have already seen how trade, connectivity, debt, resources and even tourism have become political flashpoints in recent years, the Ukraine conflict has dramatically broadened the scope of such leveraging,” Jaishankar said during a lecture at IIM Calcutta.

He said the scale of the measures, including technology control, infrastructure and service restrictions and asset seizures, was genuinely breathtaking. The minister added that sharpening great power competition inevitably creates stress across multiple domains.