EAM Jaishankar meets Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of the inaugural meeting of the 2 + 2 dialogue mechanism at the level of the foreign and defence ministers

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of the inaugural meeting of the 2 + 2 dialogue mechanism at the level of the foreign and defence ministers.

"The partnership between India and Russia is special and unique. I am confident that our discussions today will be very fruitful. The annual India-Russia summit is taking place after a gap of two years today. India is very conscious that in the world of rapid geopolitical changes, it has been remarkably steady and strong. We are very satisfied with our bilateral relations and the state of our cooperations," said Jaishankar during his meeting with Lavrov.

"Today we have an opportunity not only to discuss our bilateral ties and global situation," he added. Underscoring the importance of the India-Russia annual summit, the minister said, "Prime Minister Modi and President Putin share a relationship of great trust and confidence. We are looking forward to some very significant outcomes from the Summit."

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) last month had said that the agenda for the "two plus two" format dialogue between India and the Russian Federation will cover "political and defence issues of mutual interest".

"The agenda for the dialogue will cover political and defence issues of mutual interest. The establishment of this new mechanism of two plus two dialogue is expected to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said in November.

Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had met Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu here at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold the 21st annual India-Russia summit, and it will be their first face-to-face meeting post the BRICS summit in November 2019.

On Saturday, the Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev had said that he is expecting a "sizeable and formidable joint political statement" from the annual summit.

"Negotiating teams are working about outcomes of the Summit, work is on. But what's clear for today is that one of the outcomes would be a sizeable and formidable joint political statement," Russian Envoy told media.

"It would be a very comprehensive paper, a comprehensive document covering all dimensions of our ties beginning with global issues and the UN revived commitment to itself to its central position in the modern world. Then would come regional issues, Afghanistan included," he added.

Both countries are expected to sign more than 10 agreements following annual talks between PM Modi and President Putin, in the fields of space, culture, science and technology, defence etc.