Modi, Putin hold restricted meeting

IANS  |  New Delhi 

and Russian held a restricted meeting here on Friday ahead of delegation-level talks of the annual bilateral summit.

arrived here on Thursday evening for the 19th India-Bilateral Summit and held a private meeting with Modi at the latter's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

received Putin at the airport here.

Around 20 agreements are expected to be signed between the two sides following the summit on Friday.

This includes India's purchase of the S-400 air defence missile system from at a cost of more than Rs 40,000 crore.

The deal has been an issue of much speculation after US Donald Trump's administration's law -- Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) -- came into effect in January.

CAATSA targets countries doing business with Russian, Iranian and North Korean defence companies.

Also expected to come up for discussion is Washington's fresh sanctions on over the country's nuclear programme.

is worried over the new sanctions, set to come into effect on November 4, as is a major supplier of to

The sanctions have also put into jeopardy the in being jointly developed by India, Iran and

Chabahar is a crucial link in the International North South Transport Corridor of which is a key party.

Russia is one of only two countries with which holds annual bilateral summits, the other being

The India-Russia bilateral relationship was elevated to Special and in 2010.

This is the third meeting between Modi and Putin this year after an informal meeting in the Russian resort city of in May and a bilateral on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in in July.

--IANS

ab/ksk

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First Published: Fri, October 05 2018. 11:32 IST