NSA Ajit Doval holds talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 17: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday held talks with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow, focusing on bilateral, regional and global issues.

Both sides discussed issues relating to bilateral cooperation in the areas of security as well as topical issues on the regional and international agenda, according to a Russian readout.

”A wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation in the area of security, as well as topical problems on the regional and international agenda, were discussed,” it said.

”The sides agreed to continue the dialogue between the two countries’ Security Councils, having emphasised the progressive development of the Russian-Indian special and privileged strategic partnership,” the Russian statement said.

It is learnt that various aspects of overall bilateral strategic cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan figured in the discussions.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

In the last few months, India has also increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet over it by several Western powers.

India’s crude oil imports from Russia have jumped over 50 times since April and now it makes up for 10 per cent of all crude bought from overseas.

Last month, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov said Russia appreciates India for not supporting attempts to isolate it in multilateral forums and that bilateral trade between the two countries is on an upswing. India has also been in touch with several leading powers including Russia on the situation in Afghanistan. In June, India re-established its diplomatic presence in Kabul by deploying a ”technical team” in its embassy in the Afghan capital.

India had withdrawn its officials from the embassy after the Taliban seized power last August following concerns over their security.