(Reuters) : Evgeny Ivanov, the deputy foreign minister, was quoted as stating on Sunday by the state-run TASS news agency that Russia is working on lowering visa requirements for six nations, including Syria, Indonesia, and India.
Ivanov added that in addition to India, “procedures simplification” was also being discussed with Angola, Vietnam, Indonesia, Syria, and the Philippines.
As previously reported by TASS, Ivanov said that Russia is also drafting intergovernmental agreements on visa-free travel with 11 nations, including Saudi Arabia, Barbados, Haiti, Zambia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, and Trinidad.
After beginning its massive invasion of Ukraine a year ago, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths and millions of displaced people, Moscow has turned to China, India, and African countries in an effort to forge deeper connections there.
Although the United States, Japan, and the European Union denounced and placed sanctions on Russia for its invasion, China and India did not.
India maintained a neutral posture, refusing to pin the invasion on Moscow while dramatically increasing its imports of Russian oil.