Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to India in December: Kremlin aide

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to India in December, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday.

Ushakov said President Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Tianjin city to discuss the preparations for his visit to India.

"Right after the SCO Plus meeting (on September 1), our president will meet Indian Prime Minister Modi," Ushakov told journalists.

"What is especially important is that preparations will be discussed for the upcoming visit of our president to India in December,” he added.

In Tianjin, the two leaders will have their first meeting this year, although they have been regularly in touch on the phone, he said.

“Our countries are bound by a special strategic partnership,” he said. “A relevant statement in this regard was passed in December 2010, which means that this year marks the 15th anniversary since then.” Prime Minister Modi had travelled to Russia twice last year for an annual summit with Putin and to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan.

The Russian president is visiting India for the annual summit.

US President Donald Trump has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.

Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.

Russia has emerged as India's top energy supplier since the West slapped sanctions on its crude oil after the invasion of Ukraine.