India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will visit Moscow on August 21 to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discuss bilateral and international cooperation. The visit follows National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s trip to Russia and comes as US President Donald Trump imposes 50 percent tariffs on Indian imports of Russian oil, according to Firstpost.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India later this year, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO Summit in China, which Putin is also likely to attend. Analysts caution that while India could seek alternatives to the US market through Russia and China, such arrangements may favor China, especially as India-China ties remain tense over trade restrictions and the Ladakh standoff.