Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday landed in Moscow, where he is on his two-day state visit. Following Russia visit, Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Austria.
PM Modi was accorded a guard of honour upon his arrival at the airport in Moscow.
Also, in a rare gesture, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Denis Manturov accompanied PM Modi to the hotel from the airport in the same car, ANI reported.
Earlier, taking to micro-blogging site—X, Modi said, “Over the next three days, will be in Russia and Austria. These visits will be a wonderful opportunity to deepen ties with these nations, with whom India has time tested friendship. I also look forward to interacting with the Indian community living in these countries.”
This is for the first time Prime Minister Modi's is visiting Russia in recent five years. Earlier, he had attended an economic summit in the Russia’s Vladivostok in 2019.
It is also PM Modi's first Russia visit since the outbreak of Ukraine war in 2022.
PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to explore ways to further expand bilateral relations in diverse areas, including trade, energy and defence during the 22nd India-Russia annual summit on Tuesday.
The annual summit between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Russia is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Earlier, 21 annual summits have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit was held on December 6, 2021, in New Delhi.
It was when Russian President Putin had visited India to attend the summit. Putin, as head of the Russian state, has visited India nine times.
Prime Minister Modi and President Putin last held bilateral talks on the margins of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022.
From Russia, Modi will travel to Austria on Tuesday in the first visit by an Indian PM to that country in over 40 years.
