Vinay Kumar, an Indian Foreign Service officer from the 1992 batch currently serving as India’s Ambassador to Myanmar, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He is expected to assume the new role shortly.
Russia, a longstanding and reliable partner for India, recently held elections. The development of India-Russia relations has been a fundamental aspect of India’s foreign policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Vladimir Putin on his re-election as the President of the Russian Federation, expressing a desire to strengthen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.
Since the signing of the “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000 during President Putin’s visit to India, the relationship between the two countries has deepened, encompassing various areas such as political, security, trade and economy, defence, science and technology, and culture. The Strategic Partnership was further elevated to a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” during President Putin’s visit to India in December 2010.
India and Russia have a longstanding and broad-based cooperation in the defence sector, which has evolved from a buyer-seller framework to one involving joint research, development, and production of advanced defence technologies and systems, the MEA noted.