Russian President Vladimir Putin cleared the room of delegates and officials for a one-on-one meeting with India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, sources told News18, adding that perception sharing formed an important part of the 55-minute meeting.
Ajit Doval had called on the Russian President on February 9 where the two countries agreed to continue work towards implementing the India-Russia strategic partnership.
“NSA Ajit Doval called on HE President Putin. Wide-ranging discussion on bilateral and regional issues. Agreed to continue work towards implementing the India-Russia strategic partnership,” the Indian Embassy in Moscow had tweeted.
The Kremlin said President Putin met with heads of delegations taking part in the multilateral consultations on Afghanistan.
“It was a one-on-one meeting. Putin wanted all delegations and officials to leave the room. Both discussed bilateral issues,” a source said.
“Perception sharing was an important aspect that they discussed… This is significant that the head of state talked to the NSA one-on-one. This was a 55-minute meeting,” the source added.
On Wednesday, Doval attended the fifth multilateral meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils/NSAs on Afghanistan which was hosted by Russia.
In his address at the multilateral meeting on Afghanistan, Doval said no country should be allowed to use Afghan territory to export terrorism and asserted that India will never abandon people of Afghanistan in their time of need.
Besides Russia and India, the meeting was attended by representatives from Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Doval began his two-day visit to Russia on Wednesday.
On Monday, Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Denis Alipov said Russia wants to further diversify its relations with India.
The NSA’s visit to Russia came three months after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar travelled to the country during which the two sides vowed to expand their economic engagement including India’s import of petroleum products from its “time-tested” partner.
Doval’s visit to Moscow also took place ahead of the G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to travel to India to attend the meeting on March 1 and 2.
With agency inputs
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