Today in Politics: PM Modi in Moscow for talks with President Putin; LoP Rahul Gandhi heads to Manipur

The two leaders will review the “entire range of multifaceted relations between the two countries and exchange views on contemporary regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi on Thursday while announcing the high-level visit.

This will be PM Modi’s first visit to Russia in nearly five years. His last visit to Russia was in 2019 when he attended an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok.

The last in-person bilateral meeting between Modi and Putin took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in September 2022. That was when Modi told Putin that “this is not the era of war” — a line used in the formulation at the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022, and by other western leaders and interlocutors to press on Russia to end the war.

In reflection of its strong friendship with Russia, India has not yet condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the conflict must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

In the two-and-a-half years since their last annual summit in New Delhi in December 2021, Modi and Putin have maintained regular contact through at least 10 telephone conversations. Modi’s visit to Russia comes just after his visit to Italy for the outreach session at the G7 leaders’ Summit on June 13-14. However, he did not go for the peace summit on Ukraine which was held in Switzerland.

Following his Russia visit, PM Modi will be in Austria on July 9-10. This will be the first visit by an Indian PM to Austria in 41 years, after Indira Gandhi in 1983.

Rahul Gandhi in Assam, Manipur

The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will travel to Assam and Manipur on Monday. This will be Gandhi’s first trip to Manipur as the LoP, which comes days after he expressed in the House his concern about the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zomi communities in the state.

Senior Congress leaders hope that this visit would send out a message that “it is high time Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also visit the strife-torn state”, as Asad Rehman reported.

After visiting a relief camp in the Cachar district of Assam, where those affected by floods are seeking relief, Gandhi will head to Manipur via road.

There, he will meet violence-affected people in relief camps in three places – Jiribam, Churachandpur (districts), and Moirang (Bishnupur district). He is also scheduled to meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey to discuss the crisis.

Gandhi’s visit to Jiribam assumes significance as it remained largely unaffected by the clashes until June this year, when a killing shattered its tenuous year-long peace.

In the Lok Sabha on July 2, PM Modi’s over two-hour-long reply to the debate on motion of thanks on the President’s address was disrupted by the Opposition members, who continuously raised the slogans of “Justice for Manipur” and “Bharat Jodo”.

HC to hear Kejriwal petition

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who is seeking additional meetings with his lawyers. The plea is listed for hearing before Justice Neena Bansal Krishna. Kejriwal, who has been in jail for his alleged role in the Delhi excise policy case, has challenged a trial court’s July 1 order rejecting his application for directions to the prison authorities for granting two additional meetings in a week with his lawyers through video conferencing. Currently, he is allowed two meetings with his lawyers in a week.

SC to hear pleas on NEET

The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a batch of pleas related to NEET-UG 2024, including those alleging irregularities and malpractices in the May 5 test and seeking a direction to conduct it afresh.

The Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET-UG, recently told the apex court that scrapping the exam would be “counterproductive” and “seriously jeopardise” lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.

According to the cause list for July 8 uploaded on the apex court’s website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear a total of 38 petitions related to the exam.

With PTI inputs