Narendra Modi-Vladimir Putin Informal Summit: Global Terrorism Likely to Be Discussed

New Delhi, May 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on May 21 for an informal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the city of Sochi.

The informal summit between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin, which, has a broad-based agenda on global and regional issues, is expected to see the discussions on global terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan-Pakistan, Syria, Islamic State (IS), the sources added.

According to the sources, a large part of the informal meeting is one to one and a restricted delegation-level meeting is likely. Most part of the five-hour engagement is one to one. Both the leaders will also exchange views on their domestic priorities.

During the summit, the Indo-Russian cooperation in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are likely to come as well.

The two leaders may also discuss the India-Russia civil nuclear cooperation in third countries. The informal interaction has no specific agenda and is very flexible. No regular protocol will be practised, the sources said.

President Putin will also host lunch for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be an important occasion for the two leaders to exchange views on international matters in a broad and long-term perspective with the objective of further strengthening the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), issued on May 14, read.

The statement added this informal summit in Sochi, between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin, is in keeping with the tradition of regular consultations between India and Russia at the highest levels.

According to the statement, the summit is taking place at the invitation of Putin. "There are plans to discuss key issues developing Russian-Indian very privileged strategic partnership and also to exchange views on vital issues of the international and regional agenda," the Russian news agency TASS reported citing, the Kremlin press service, as saying in a statement.

This will be the first meeting between Putin and Modi this year, however, since the beginning of the year, the two leaders have had several phone conversations. This comes barely a month after when Prime Minister Modi attended a two-day informal summit along with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan city.