Moscow

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval reached Moscow on Tuesday to review the progress of recent bilateral engagements between India and Russia.

During his two-day visit, Doval is meeting his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev.

On the agenda of their talks are Afghanistan, counter-terrorism measures, defense, food security, and the fallout of the Ukraine war.

According to reports, the NSA’s visit is part of a regular engagement between the two countries.

India has in recent months increased its dependence on Russia for crude oil imports. This has been despite objections from western countries due to the Russia-Ukraine war in the region.

Earlier this year, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the second largest supplier of crude oil to India.

Doval is likely to participate in a meeting of top-security officials of the SCO member states in Uzbekistan on Thursday and Friday.

Afghanistan is likely to be the key discussion point between the NSA and his counterparts during the meet. Despite working with Kabul on humanitarian issues, India continues to be concerned about the country’s ties with Pak-based terror groups.

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The SCO meeting of NSA’s will set the agenda for the leaders summit later next month in Samarkand. That summit could see PM Modi have bilateral meetings with Chinese Premiere Xi Jinping and with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.