India, Russia to exchange visits to mark 70th anniversary of ties

Important visits of Russian and Indian officials are expected to take place in the next few months as part of the 70th anniversary of the countries' diplomatic relations, Ambassador of India to Russia Pankaj Saran told Sputnik.

He added that next year Russia would host an annual bilateral summit "between our PM and the Russian side," although the time and location are yet to be decided.

"Next year is the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations and this is a major milestone. We have a full roadmap to celebrate this occasion and as part of this we are expecting important visits from Russia to India in the next few months and from India to Russia. We are hoping that as early as next month we will have some important visits to India," Saran said.

During the October summit meeting in Goa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed plans for the anniversary. According to India's Foreign Ministry, the countries plan to mark the occasion in a "befitting manner depicting width and depth of multi-faceted relations that the two countries," with intergovernmental, economic, scientific, educational, sporting and cultural events.

First published by Sputnik.

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