NSA Ajit Doval in Russia to review ties; Afghanistan, terror too figure on agenda | India News
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NEW DELHI: As India continues to enhance engagement with Russia on regional and global issues, NSA Ajit Doval paid an unannounced visit to Moscow on Tuesday to review progress and recent developments in bilateral ties.
Afghanistan, counter-terrorism, defence and food and energy security in the aftermath of the Ukraine conflict are among the regional and global issues Doval is likely to discuss in his meetings with Russian authorities, including his counterpart Nikolai Patrushev, during his two-day visit to the Russian capital.
While there was no official confirmation of the visit, TOI learnt from sources the visit is in the framework of regular dialogue between the countries on “strategic bilateral, regional and global issues”. Despite the pressure from the West to not increase its crude import from Russia, India’s imports of both oil and fertilisers have gone up sharply in the past few months.
As per Bloomberg report last week, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in June to become the second-biggest supplier of crude to India. The external affairs ministry reiterated last week that India’s oil purchases will be guided by its energy security requirements.
The NSA will focus on counter-terrorism cooperation in his meetings, especially in the context of Afghanistan. Doval is also likely to participate in a meeting of the top security officials of SCO member-states in Uzbekistan on Thursday and Friday where again the situation in Afghanistan is likely to dominate the agenda. Despite working with the government in Kabul on humanitarian issues, and reopening its embassy in Kabul, India remains concerned about the Taliban’s links with Pakistan based terror groups. Official sources here have cited a recent UNSC report to say that these groups continue to operate terror camps in Afghanistan.
The SCO meeting of NSAs will finalise the agenda for security-related issues that the leaders of SCO nations will focus in the meet next month. The possibility of an in-person SCO summit hasn’t been ruled out yet and if that happens, the meeting will see PM Modi come face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping — for the first time since the ongoing border stand-off with China started in 2020 — and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.
As per Bloomberg report last week, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in June to become the second-biggest supplier of crude to India.
Afghanistan, counter-terrorism, defence and food and energy security in the aftermath of the Ukraine conflict are among the regional and global issues Doval is likely to discuss in his meetings with Russian authorities, including his counterpart Nikolai Patrushev, during his two-day visit to the Russian capital.
While there was no official confirmation of the visit, TOI learnt from sources the visit is in the framework of regular dialogue between the countries on “strategic bilateral, regional and global issues”. Despite the pressure from the West to not increase its crude import from Russia, India’s imports of both oil and fertilisers have gone up sharply in the past few months.
As per Bloomberg report last week, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in June to become the second-biggest supplier of crude to India. The external affairs ministry reiterated last week that India’s oil purchases will be guided by its energy security requirements.
The NSA will focus on counter-terrorism cooperation in his meetings, especially in the context of Afghanistan. Doval is also likely to participate in a meeting of the top security officials of SCO member-states in Uzbekistan on Thursday and Friday where again the situation in Afghanistan is likely to dominate the agenda. Despite working with the government in Kabul on humanitarian issues, and reopening its embassy in Kabul, India remains concerned about the Taliban’s links with Pakistan based terror groups. Official sources here have cited a recent UNSC report to say that these groups continue to operate terror camps in Afghanistan.
The SCO meeting of NSAs will finalise the agenda for security-related issues that the leaders of SCO nations will focus in the meet next month. The possibility of an in-person SCO summit hasn’t been ruled out yet and if that happens, the meeting will see PM Modi come face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping — for the first time since the ongoing border stand-off with China started in 2020 — and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.
As per Bloomberg report last week, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in June to become the second-biggest supplier of crude to India.
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