Putin informs India’s PM Modi he can’t make it to Delhi conference

Indian Prime Minister Modi was informed by Russian President Putin that he won’t attend the upcoming G20 Summit in Delhi.

India will be hosting a summit this year in its capital city Delhi from 9-10 September.

Mr Putin called Mr. Modi and informed him that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be attending the summit on his behalf.

The two leaders talked about many problems and topics that affect both their regions and the whole world, said India in a statement.

A person who speaks for the Russian government said last week that Mr. Putin would not go to the summit because he has a lot of things to do.

The G20 is a group of the 19 richest countries in the world along with the European Union. India is currently in charge of the G20, a position that countries take turns holding each year.

Meanwhile, world leaders such as US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be at a summit in Delhi where they are likely to talk about Russia invading Ukraine.

Mr Putin went to the Brics summit last week. The Brics summit is a meeting of five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Instead of attending in person, he joined through a video call to avoid the chance of being arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued a warrant to arrest Mr Putin. They believe he committed war crimes in Ukraine.

India said on Monday that Mr. Modi understood and appreciated Russia’s decision and thanked Mr. Putin for supporting their initiatives during their time leading the G20.

Russia’s statement did not say that Mr Putin was not at the G20 summit. Instead, they said that the two countries agreed to work closely together while Russia is in charge of the BRICS group starting next year.

“The conversation also talked about the ongoing problems between Russia and India, which are getting better and closer in a special and important partnership,” it added.