Putin to Visit India for Talks with PM Modi

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India on December 5-6 for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The high-level visit was first announced during National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval's Moscow visit in August, but at the time, the dates were not finalised, The Caspian Post reports, citing NDTV.

The Russian president later met PM Modi at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in China, where the two leaders held an hour-long conversation in Putin's limousine.

The tour's announcement comes amid heightened tensions between New Delhi and Washington over India's trade relations with Russia. US President Donald Trump has slapped 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods as punishment for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. Washington has claimed the measure is part of a campaign to pressure Moscow into ending its offensive in Ukraine.