Moscow and New Delhi plan to start negotiations in June on potential visa-free travel for tourist groups, with a view to striking a bilateral deal by the end of the year, Nikita Kondratyev, director multilateral cooperation at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, has said.
”The process regarding group visa-free travel has progressed. The Indian side has responded, indicating that they are in the final stage of internal coordination. I believe that we will hold the first consultations with them to discuss the draft agreement in June. We are planning to ink the deal by the end of this year.”
The idea was originally raised in 2022 by President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan, with the Russian president calling for accelerated negotiations on an agreement.
Speaking at the Kazan International Economic Forum “Russia & the Islamic World 2024” this week, Kondratyev noted that…
