Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Moscow in November for summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to further advance bilateral strategic partnership in all spheres, including defence and space cooperation.
This would be the second summit in 2007, as Russia enters into election mode to elect the State Duma (lower house of parliament) in December and Presidential polls in March 2008 after which Putin is to hand over power to his successor, diplomatic sources said.
Putin had visited India in January this year, when he was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
Joint Secretary (Eurasia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Jamini Bhagwati, was in Moscow on a two-day visit to launch the preparations for the Indo-Russian summit.
It would be preceded by the visits of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherji and Defence Minister A K Antony, who will co-chair sessions of the two independent Indo-Russian joint commissions on trade, economic, scientific-technological and cultural cooperation and interaction in defence.
India and Russia renewed the tradition of regular annual summits in 2000, when President Putin first visited India.
Since then the leaders of the two nations have been alternatively meeting in Moscow and New Delhi and this would be the eighth Indo-Russian summit.
