Russia extends support to India

: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday extended support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for countering the Covid-19 situation in India even as the two sides decided to establish a new 2+2 dialogue of foreign and defence ministers.

Modi spoke to Putin on telephone against the backdrop of reports that the first Russian consignment of support materials for India’s Covid-19 response was expected to reach the country on Thursday.

Russian military aircraft will deliver more than 22 tonnes of equipment, including 20 oxygen production units, 75 ventilators, 150 medical monitors and 200,000 packs of medicine.

The leaders discussed the evolving pandemic situation, and Putin “expressed solidarity with the people and government of India and conveyed that Russia would extend all possible support in this regard”, according to a statement from the external affairs ministry.

Modi thanked Putin and said the “prompt Russian support to India was a symbol of our enduring partnership”.

The leaders decided to establish a new 2+2 dialogue mechanism comprising the foreign and defence ministers of both countries. Russia will be only the fourth country with which India has such a mechanism, the others being the US, Japan and Australia.

The contact at the highest levels of the leadership in India and Russia came after bilateral ties went through a rough patch recently, following Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to New Delhi. Lavrov’s decision to club the trip to India with a visit to Pakistan, and his comments about Moscow being ready to supply special military equipment to Islamabad, did not go down well in New Delhi.

THE FIRST RUSSIAN CONSIGNMENT OF COVID-19 SUPPORT MATERIALS IS EXPECTED TO REACH TODAY