According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 conference in India next month but would instead send his foreign minister.
According to Modi’s office, he spoke to Putin on the phone and “expressed an understanding” for his decision to skip the summit scheduled for September 9–10; Sergey Lavrov will go.
Relations between New Delhi and Moscow go back to the Cold War, and Russia continues to be by far India’s largest arms supplier.
Despite seeking closer security relations with the US, India has refrained from publicly denouncing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Modi and Putin also spoke on “issues of mutual concern”, including on recently concluded BRICS summit in South Africa, which Putin opted to address via video link.
In March, the International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Putin over the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. India is not a signatory of the ICC.
The Kremlin denies the accusations, insisting the warrant against Putin is “void”.
