The head of Russian diplomacy and Defense Minister General Sergey Shoigu arrived here on Sunday evening for the first “2+2” ministerial talks with their Indian counterparts, the Press Trust of India agency reported.

Earlier, Jaishankar and Lavrov held talks, the source added.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Jaishankar said he would like to take the opportunity to underline his satisfaction with bilateral relations and the state of cooperation.

Following the “2+2” exchanges, the Russian incumbents will join President Vladimir Putin in his annual bilateral summit talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“For us, the India-Russia summit is a unique event. Prime Minister Modi and President Putin share a relationship of great trust,” Jaishankar alleged.

The meeting is being held after a gap of two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We expect it to yield very significant results, Jaishankar added.

On Monday, the two nations are set to sign a series of pacts to expand cooperation in key areas such as defense, trade and investment, energy and technology.

At both the summit and the “2+2” talks of the defense and foreign ministers, the two sides are expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan.

In his remarks, Lavrov referred to Putin’s recent comments in which he stressed the importance of ties between the two states.

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