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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Russia next week for talks with Vladimir Putin, the Indian external affairs ministry said.

Mr Modi will visit the country for two days starting Monday at the invitation of Mr Putin, he said in a statement.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the two leaders will review the development of bilateral relations between their countries and discuss regional and global issues.

The Kremlin announced this week that the planned visit would likely take place in July. Its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, called it “very important.”

“In addition, our trade and economic cooperation is also one of the main topics discussed, the most diverse areas of cooperation that we intend to develop and for which there is mutual political will,” Peskov said. “This is the main thing.”

Mr Modi’s last visit to Russia was in 2019, for an economic forum in the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok.

India is the world’s third-largest crude consumer and a major buyer of Russian oil, increasing its purchases more than 20 times from 2021 as Russia cuts barrel prices due to Western energy restrictions.

Mr Modi extended his “warmest congratulations” to Mr Putin when he extended his presidential term in March, following an election that Western countries said was neither free nor fair.

India has maintained a neutral stance on the conflict, refraining from publicly criticizing Mr Putin’s invasion while trying to maintain its ties with the West.

Russia is increasingly seeking to strengthen ties with its partners to avoid becoming a global pariah after its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin recently visited North Korea and Vietnam, signing a security agreement in the former.