New Delhi: Foreign minister S Jaishankar will visit Russia on November 8 to meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov amid rising concern over oil prices, food crisis and the escalating nuclear rhetoric. Making the announcement today, Russian foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the discussions will revolve around bilateral relations and "international developments".
The Western cap on Russian oil prices -- imposed as part of sanctions against it -- come into effect in December. Availing oil at a low G7 (Group of 7 nations) price cap will mean siding with the G7 and dropping the neutrality that New Delhi has maintained so far.
India has abstained from voting in the key United Nations Security Council resolutions against Russia, despite pressure from western nations.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand. His remark at the meeting -- that "this is not the era of war" -- was seen by many western nations as a public rebuke.
Yesterday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu that nuclear weapons should not be used by any side in the Ukraine war after Moscow accused Kiev of planning to use a radioactive dirty bomb.
Moscow has said it plans to carry out annual exercises of its nuclear forces -- shortly after alleging that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's regime has ordered the development of a radioactive dirty bomb, which is in the final stages. It also said that he might have the backing of Ukraine's Western allies.
On Sunday, the Russian Defence Minister called his counterparts in NATO to discuss the matter. The western nations supporting Ukraine have rubbished the claims and accuse Russia of fear-mongering. Ukraine has called it a Russian pretext to escalate the war.
The nuclear option "should not be resorted to by any side as the prospect of the usage of nuclear or radiological weapons goes against the basic tenets of humanity," Rajnath Singh told Mr Shoigu, the government said in a statement.