Jaishankar, Lavrov to hold talks in Moscow on November 8

A DAY after Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu called up Defence Ministers of India and China to convey Moscow’s concern about a purported Ukrainian plan to use a “dirty bomb”, repeating an allegation that Ukraine and the West have already rejected, Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will travel to Moscow to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on November 8.

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will have talks with External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar on November 8 in Moscow,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “The ministers will discuss the current state of bilateral relations and the international agenda.”

Lavrov visited India in April during which he held extensive talks with Jaishankar and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India in December last year to attend the India-Russia annual summit.

The two countries have a mechanism under which India’s Prime Minister and the Russian President hold a summit meeting annually to review the entire gamut of ties. Modi is likely to travel to Russia this year.

On Wednesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu called up Defence Ministers of India and China to convey Moscow’s concern about a purported Ukrainian plan to use a “dirty bomb”. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on his part, told Shoigu that the Ukraine conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and the nuclear option should not be resorted to by any side.

Shoigu had briefed Singh on the evolving situation in Ukraine, including his concerns about possible “provocations through use of ‘dirty bomb’,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

On October 10, within hours of Russia firing cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities including civilian facilities in Kyiv that killed at least 11 people, India had said it was “deeply concerned” over the escalation of the conflict, including targeting of infrastructure and death of civilians.

This was one of the sharpest statements by New Delhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war” on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. India has not yet publicly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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