Russia to introduce e-visas for Indians; considers visa free travel for Indian citizens.

On Friday, in a bilateral meeting between PM of India, Modi and Russian President, Putin on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 2022 held in Uzbekistan, the Russian President put forward a visa-free tourist travel deal between India and Russia.

During the talks with the Prime Minister of India, the Russian President also states that India's rich history and ancient culture are traditionally of great interest to the Russian people.

"We propose accelerating the process of negotiations towards an agreement on visa-free tourist travel," Putin was quoted as saying by Russia's official news agency TASS.

Earlier on Tuesday, Alina Arutyunova, Deputy Chairman of Moscow city tourism committee who was recently in Mumbai, while speaking to TOI said Russia will soon introduce e-visa facility for Indian tourists.

"The President of the Russian Federation has supported an initiative to introduce a visa-free regime for group tourists. Such an order has already been received for Iran on Tuesday. It's possible that the same assignment will soon be for India," she said.

"In 2020, a resolution was passed on the introduction of electronic visas for 52 countries, including India. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the resolution has not yet entered into force, but we very much expect that the project will be launched soon, and e-visa will simplify the process of arrival of foreign tourists," she added.

The Russian President further said about the on-going conflict in Ukraine with PM, Modi. Putin said he will do everything he can to make the conflict end as soon as possible and that Ukraine’s capital Kyiv refuses to negotiate.

"I know your position on the conflict in Ukraine, you concern that you express constantly," Putin said.

"We do everything we can to make it end as soon as possible," he further assured PM Modi. But at the same time, he also regrets as the "other side, the Ukrainian leadership stated its rejection of negotiations process," "stated that it wants to achieve its goals by force."

"As they say, on the battlefield," the Russian President was quoted as saying by TASS.

Further, the Russian President assured PM Modi that he will keep the India updated about Ukraine.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for helping out the Indian students to evacuate from Ukraine after Russian troops launched a "special military operation" against the neighbouring country in the month of February, this year.

"I want to thank Russia and Ukraine for helping us to evacuate our students from Ukraine," PM Modi said, according to ANI.

Moreover, during the talks, PM Modi noted that Moscow and New Delhi have been together for several decades.

"Today, we'll get the opportunity to talk about how we can progress on the path of peace. India-Russia has stayed together with each other for several decades," he said.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) annual summit 2022 was held from September 15-16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.