New Delhi [India], August 14 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to visit Moscow later this month for the 26th session of the India-Russia intergovernmental commission

Addressing a media briefing on Thursday in the national capital, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, 'EAM Dr S Jaishankar is expected to visit Moscow for the 26th session of the India-Russia intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, technological and cultural cooperation. This is to happen later this month. We will share with you further updates at the appropriate time.'

On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a post on X said that the country's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with Jaishankar on August 21 in Moscow.

The post stated, 'On August 21, FM Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with FM of India S. Jaishankar in Moscow. The Ministers will discuss key issues on our bilateral agenda, as well as key aspects of cooperation within international frameworks.'

https://x.com/mfa_russia/status/1955548841404752309

Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Fadeyev told a press briefing in Moscow that the heads of the foreign policy departments will discuss 'the most important issues on the bilateral agenda, as well as current aspects of interaction in international formats,' Russian state media had reported.

The development comes amid strain in India's ties with the US over New Delhi's procurement of crude oil from Russia.

Last week US President Donald Trump in an executive order imposed an additional 25-per cent tariff on Indian goods as a penalty for New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil.

The additional duties raised the overall tariff on India to 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the MEA spokesperson while responding to a query on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be visiting the United States later this year to attend the UNGA said, 'It has not yet been decided if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be going for the UN General Assembly or not'.

Earlier on Monday, after a telephonic conversation took place between PM Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President wrote in a post on X, 'We agreed to plan a personal meeting in September during the UN General Assembly and to work on an exchange of visits.'

https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1954891726134378999

(ANI)