As India continues to strengthen its engagement with Russia on regional and international issues, Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval undertook an unannounced visit to Moscow on Tuesday to examine progress and recent developments in bilateral relations.
Doval will meet with Russian officials during his two-day visit to Moscow, including his counterpart Nikolai Patrushev, to discuss a range of domestic and global issues, including Afghanistan, counterterrorism, defence, and the security of food and energy in the wake of the Ukraine war.
The visit was not, however, formally acknowledged. According to sources, the visit is a component of ongoing negotiations between the countries about “strategic bilateral, regional, and international issues.” Despite requests from the West to restrict its purchases of Russian crude, India has recently expanded both its imports of oil and fertilisers.
According to a source, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia in June to become the nation’s second-largest oil exporter to India. The necessity for energy security will guide India’s oil purchases, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
The NSA will specifically emphasise counterterrorism cooperation during the talks, especially in relation to Afghanistan. Doval is also scheduled to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states’ top security officials’ meeting in Uzbekistan on Thursday and Friday of this week, where the Afghan crisis is likely to once again take centre stage.
India has reopened its embassy in Kabul and continues to work with the government there while also being concerned about the Taliban’s ties to Pakistan-based terrorist organisations. These organisations continue to run terror camps in Afghanistan under the Taliban, claim official sources who cite a recent United Nations Security Council report.
The NSA conference of the SCO will finalise the agenda for security-related subjects that the leaders of SCO members will focus on during the next summit next month in Samarkand. PM Narendra Modi would personally meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif for the first time since the current border dispute with China started in May 2020 if the notion of an in-person SCO summit is approved.
