Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to represent India at the annual Red Square parade
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be among high-profile foreign guests at the World War II Victory Day commemoration in Moscow on May 9, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
The country will instead be represented by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, sources close to the Indian government told RT.
The announcement comes amid soaring tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad over an April 22 terrorist attack in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists.
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar missed this week’s meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro on account of the crisis, as New Delhi plans its next diplomatic and strategic moves.
Modi was invited by Russia along with leaders of several “friendly nations” to attend the Victory Day parade on May 9, when the country commemorates 80 years since the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
The invitation has been accepted by other BRICS leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Others reportedly planning to attend this year include Vietnamese President To Lam, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first world leaders to offer condolences to the government and people of India over the Kashmir attack.
“There can be no justification for this brutal crime. We expect that its sponsors and perpetrators will be duly punished,” Putin wrote in a letter to Modi and Indian President Draupadi Murmu. “I would like to reiterate the readiness for further strengthening of cooperation with the Indian partners in the fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism.”
Earlier this week, India’s ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko. “Russia’s readiness to counter the global terrorist threat together with India was reaffirmed,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a social media post after the meeting.
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