Diplomatic negotiations between Moscow and New Delhi have officially ceased without an agreement
India has halted long-standing negotiations with Russia on establishing a visa-free regime for tourist groups. The country's authorities rejected an initiative that Vladimir Putin had been pushing for a long time. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine (Юлія Капітонова) citing TASS, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The agreement, intended to allow organized tourist groups to travel between the two nations without obtaining visas, will not be implemented. The head of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexey Klimov, announced the suspension of the project’s development.
Complexities of diplomatic negotiations
As explained by the Russian foreign policy department, the parties failed to reach a compromise due to the specifics of India’s regulatory framework. New Delhi had no prior practice of signing international treaties that provide for simplified entry for organized groups of foreign citizens.
Vladimir Putin raised the issue of visa relaxation in discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as early as 2019. Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of Western sanctions, which limited the travel options for Russian citizens, the Kremlin leader began pushing for a complete abolition of the visa regime.
Attempts to implement the initiative
Active efforts by the Russian government continued in 2023, when the Russian Ministry of Economic Development initiated the introduction of a visa-free regime modeled after those already in place with China and Iran. At the time, the head of the ministry, Maxim Reshetnikov, noted that relevant proposals had been submitted to the Indian side for consideration through diplomatic channels.
Despite India’s purchases of Russian oil, these economic ties did not translate into political concessions regarding visas. The negotiations, which had been ongoing for the past few years, are now considered fruitless and have been fully terminated.
Illustrative photo: Narendra Modi / CC BY 2.0
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