Russian foreign minister Lavrov arrives in India
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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on April 1.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in India's capital New Delhi on Thursday evening.
The Russian foreign minister will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on April 1.
Lavrov arrived in India amid the war in Ukraine. Before arriving in India, Lavrov had held discussions with the Chinese minister of foreign affairs Wang Yi in Tunxi, China.
The Chinese foreign minister was in the Indian capital last week to discuss the regional situation and bilateral relations. Wang had met India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as de-escalation talks in eastern Ladakh took centre stage during talks.
Lavrov's meeting is the first high-level visit of a Russian official since the war began on February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin had visited India in December last year as he held summit talks with PM Narendra Modi.
Watch: UK aims to rally India to support West against Kremlin
Meanwhile, UK foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss visited met Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi on Thursday. "Of course, it's a vital time for global security in the wake of Russia's illegal invasion in Ukraine," Truss said.
"It's essential to respect the principle sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law and it's very important for the United Kingdom that we are improving our economic, our security and defence relationships," Truss said in New Delhi.
The visit by the UK foreign secretary comes amid "wider diplomatic push" with the Ukraine war in focus. US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh had arrived in India on Wednesday.
The British High Commission in India said Truss wants to "counter" Russia's aggression and reduce global strategic dependence on the country ahead of the key NATO and G7 meetings next week.
(With inputs from Agencies)