NSA Ajit Doval meets Russian security chief in Moscow to strengthen strategic partnership

Moscow: India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Russia’s Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu in Moscow to discuss ways to deepen the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries.

Both sides stressed the need for collaborative efforts ahead of this year’s bilateral summit, and exchanged views on Russia-India cooperation in multilateral forums, as well as key global security issues.

“On August 7, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergey Shoigu held talks with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval. The parties discussed ways to further strengthen the Russia-India special and privileged strategic partnership and emphasised the importance of joint efforts in preparation of the bilateral summit by the end of this year. They also discussed cooperation between Russia and India in multilateral formats and exchanged views on topical issues of international security,” the Russian Embassy in India posted on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday received Doval at the Kremlin, marking a significant moment in the evolving strategic partnership between New Delhi and Moscow.

The meeting, held in the presence of senior Russian officials including Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, comes ahead of Putin’s expected visit to India later this month for the annual bilateral summit.

From the Indian side, Ambassador Vinay Kumar joined the high-level discussions, which focused on regional security, defence cooperation, and preparations for the forthcoming leadership-level engagement.

The Kremlin described the talks as “constructive,” underscoring the continuity of dialogue between the two countries despite shifting global alignments.

“We have now established very good relations, which we value very much – a strategic partnership between our countries,” NSA Doval said during his meeting with Shoigu, as quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency.

“We were pleased to learn about President Putin’s visit to our country, scheduled for late August.” Presidential aide Ushakov confirmed that the visit is being planned in line with the tradition of annual summits.

“Our leaders have an agreement to meet once a year. This time, it is our turn,” he said, referring to the rotational format of the India-Russia leadership dialogue.

–IANS