Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit India on December 4-5: Reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit India on December 4-5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian state news agencies reported on Friday, citing the Kremlin.

In October, PTI had reported that the Russian president would visit India in the first week of December to solidify bilateral relations.

India and Russia have an understanding under which India's prime minister and the Russian president hold a summit meeting annually to review the entire gamut of ties. So far, 22 annual summit meetings have taken place alternatively in India and Russia.

Putin had last visited New Delhi in 2021, while Modi travelled to Moscow for the annual summit in July last year.

At the India-Russia annual summit, Modi and Putin are expected to further expand the "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership" between the two countries, according to a PTI report.

The focus of the talks could be to deepen cooperation in areas of defence and security, trade and energy, said one of the people cited above, the report added.