Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a two-day official visit to India beginning on December 10 for the 15th Annual India-Russia Summit.
Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary (Eurasia) Ajay Bisaria, briefing the media about the visit, said President Putin will be accompanied by a high-level official and business delegation.
Bisaria said President Putin will hold detailed talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, both in the restricted and delegation format.
"He will call on the President Pranab Mukherjee, who will host a banquet in honour of the dignitary. The two leaders are also expected to jointly interact with chief executive officers of major companies from both the countries," he added.
Bisaria said the India-Russia Annual Summit process was initiated under President Putin's leadership during his visit to India in October 2000.
"It has proved a highly effective mechanism for both countries to take high-level stock of India-Russia relations and to impart direction and impetus to them. The last Summit was held in Moscow during the visit of former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Russia in October 2013," he added.
The joint secretary further said that the two countries enjoy a 'special and strategic partnership'.
"President Putin is known as a close friend of India and an architect of this strategic partnership. This has been strengthened considerably over the last 14 years in important and diverse areas. In fact, annual summits are at the apex of an elaborate multi-layered mechanism or machinery for bilateral interaction, one of the largest that we have with any country in the world," said Bisaria.
"The other key institutional mechanism for high-level dialogue between the two countries are an Intergovernmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation, co-chaired by the two Defence Ministers; and an Intergovernmental Commission on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation which External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will co-chair with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. We also have the India-Russia Trade and Investment Forum, which is co-chaired by our Commerce and Industry Minister and the Russian Minister for Economic Development," he added.
