Denis Manturov will hold a series of meetings with top officials, as India prepares to host the BRICS summit

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov has arrived on a two-day state visit to India as New Delhi prepares to host a BRICS summit in September.

President Vladimir Putin is likely to participate in the BRICS summit, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rudenko Andrey Yurevich said on Wednesday.

Manturov's visit is expected to initiate the groundwork for the BRICS summit and for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow later this year.

Manturov is scheduled to holdtalkswith Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. He is also due to meet National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Manturov co-chairs the annual India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) with Jaishankar.

The Russian minister's visit, accompanied by a defense delegation, also assumes significance as India and Russia are boosting collaboration in the defense sector.

In March, India approved proposals to buydefense equipmentworth $25 billion, including Russianmade S400 air defense missile systems, as well as various types of aircraft and artillery systems, as part of a rapid military modernization drive.

TheS-400 systemsdemonstrated their capabilities during the brief military standoff between India and Pakistan in 2025.

Manturov's visit is also expected to kickstart talks to lay the broad contours of a potentialvisit by Modito Russia later this year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last month that Modi is slated to visit the country for his annual summit with Putin.

(RT.com)