Moscow | National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has met Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov in Moscow and held talks on key areas, including defence and energy, according to media reports.
The meeting took place on Thursday, against a fragile geopolitical backdrop marked by continuing conflict in West Asia, concerns over maritime security in key global trade routes and sharpening competition among major powers over the emerging multipolar world order.
Doval on Wednesday landed in Moscow, where he later participated in the first International Security Forum and the 14th Meeting of High Representatives for Security Matters.
He separately held meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and later with Manturov.
Russia's state-run broadcaster RT International reported that Doval was given a guided tour of Russia's National Space Center.
Doval and Manturov reportedly visited the Roscosmos Joint Industry Information Center, which was established to monitor and analyse large volumes of data related to Russia's rocket and space industry.
The broadcaster said the two officials also held a live video interaction with Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station, who briefed them on a spacewalk conducted on May 27.
India and Russia have cooperated in the space sector since the 1960s. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space aboard a Soviet Soyuz mission. Russia is also assisting India in its Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.
Ahead of meeting the deputy prime minister, NSA Doval on Thursday addressed a security forum where he called for decisive action against terrorism and said there cannot be “double standards” in the fight against it.
Referring to the situation in West Asia, Doval was quoted as saying it was essential to ensure “the safe and uninterrupted movement of trade through international waterways including the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea”.
The Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked for three months now, because of the West Asia conflict, and the Red Sea are among the world’s most critical shipping corridors. They carry a substantial share of global energy supplies and commercial trade. Any disruption in these waterways has implications for energy prices, supply chains and economic stability across Asia and beyond.
