Russian Deputy PM calls on NSA Doval as Moscow bolsters strategic ties with India

Visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov called on National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in New Delhi on Monday to discuss a range of bilateral issues concerning the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.

Manturov arrived in New Delhi earlier in the day on a two-day visit during which he and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will co-chair the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) on Tuesday.

Both ministers also attended a business-to-business dialogue during which Manturov outlined Moscow’s plan to give a fillip to the existing trade and economic ties with India, including intensifying negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com earlier, new dynamics of cooperation between India and Russia are being explored on a wide range of issues, not just limited to trade and economics but also national and international security.

NSA Doval is playing a key role in advancing the India-Russia partnership in key areas in spite of the volatile global geostrategic situation.

Last month, Doval hosted Russian security chief Nikolai Patrushev in the Indian capital as both had a thorough exchange of views on topical regional and international issues while emphasising the progressive development of the India-Russia ties.

“Ways have been outlined for further cooperation between Russia and India in the field of security, as well as in the implementation of a number of joint economic projects,” said Patrushev’s office after his meeting with NSA Doval.

Patrushev, who is Secretary of the Russian Security Council, also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi while he was in New Delhi to attend the meeting of the National Security Advisors (NSAs) of member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

The Delhi visit of 71-year-old former Director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) took place after Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired virtually an IRIGC-TEC meeting in the first week of the month.

Earlier in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a separate one-hour meeting with NSA Doval on the sidelines of a regional security conference on Afghanistan in Moscow.

Putin is keen on developing Russia’s strategic interests in the context of deepening Eurasian integration based on its partnership with Belarus, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the CIS, the formation of a large Eurasian partnership, and the further strengthening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.

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