National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday on the sidelines of the BRICS National Security Advisors meeting.
The two were seen shaking hands in a photo shared on X by the Russian Embassy in India.
The meeting took place during the conference of National Security Advisors of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) countries in St. Petersburg.
This meeting is being considered special amid renewed efforts to find a solution to the Ukraine dispute.
PM Modi will visit Kazan next month
During the conversation, Putin expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kazan, Russia to attend the annual BRICS summit next month.
The Russian President also proposed a bilateral meeting with Modi on October 22 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit to analyse the bilateral partnership and discuss “forward-looking” actions.
“We are waiting for our good friend Modi and wish him all the best,” Russian media quoted Putin as saying in his meeting with Doval.
According to reports, the purpose of Doval’s visit to Russia is to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is believed that Doval has taken Prime Minister Modi’s peace plan to President Putin.
The NSA on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and discussed important issues of “mutual interests”.
It is understood that the issue of Modi’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on August 23 also came up in the talks between the two NSAs.
India ready to play an ‘active role’
The Indian Embassy in Russia said on the talks between Doval and Shoigu, “The two sides reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed important issues of mutual interest.”
Doval’s visit to Russia comes two and a half weeks after Modi made a high-level visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. In his talks with Zelensky, Modi had said that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the war and India is ready to play an ‘active role’ in restoring peace in the region.
The Prime Minister had said that India has been in favour of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would also like to personally contribute to a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Modi’s nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine was the first by an Indian Prime Minister since that country’s independence in 1991.
This came six weeks after his summit with Putin in Moscow. In the last few days, there have been demands for India’s possible role in advancing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as New Delhi has good relations with both countries.
India can play a role in finding a solution to the conflict
On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giordano Meloni said after his talks with Zelensky that India and China could play a role in finding a solution to the protracted conflict.
Speaking at a discussion at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok last Thursday, Putin named India, Brazil and China as potential mediators who could play a role in resolving the conflict.
He said, “First of all these are China, Brazil and India. I am in touch with my colleagues and I have no doubt that given the relationship of trust and confidence that we have with each other, the leaders of these countries will be really interested and will extend a helping hand.” India has been saying that the conflict in Ukraine should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
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