Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to India from March 31 to April 1, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Wednesday. Lavrov is expected to travel to India after completing a two-day visit to China. “Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to New Delhi on 31 March-1 April 2022,” the MEA said in a one-line statement.
The focus of Lavrov's visit to New Delhi is expected to be on India's purchase of discounted Russian crude oil and putting in place a rupee-ruble payment system for bilateral trade in view of the Western sanctions against Moscow, people familiar with the development said. The Russian foreign minister's visit to India coincides with that of US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and German Foreign and Security Policy Advisor Jens Plotner. Truss will visit India on March 31 while Singh is visiting India from March 30-31. Plotner is visiting India on Wednesday. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that India's position on the Ukraine conflict has been "steadfast and consistent" and that it has been seeking immediate cessation of violence.