Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (August 28) engaged in a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Putin expressed his regret at being unable to personally attend the upcoming G20 Summit slated to take place next month. Instead, he conveyed that Russia would be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The dialogue between the leaders encompassed a comprehensive overview of diverse aspects of their bilateral cooperation, along with discussions on pertinent global and regional concerns.

"Topical issues of Russian-Indian relations, which are progressively developing in the spirit of a particularly privileged strategic partnership, were considered (in the call)," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin will be missing the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10. Modi acknowledged this decision and thanked Putin for Russia's ongoing support of India's G20 Presidency initiatives.

The conversation encompassed various aspects of bilateral relations, such as trade, energy, and space cooperation. The Kremlin highlighted the positive trend in trade and economic collaboration between the two countries.

The leaders also discussed plans for the expansion of the BRICS consortium, which includes India, Russia, China, Brazil, and South Africa, aimed at promoting emerging economies.

This exchange followed their participation in the BRICS summit in South Africa, where Putin's involvement was virtual due to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant linked to alleged war crimes in Ukraine. This ICC assertion has been vehemently denied by the Kremlin.

In the context of recent achievements, both India and Russia launched lunar probes during this period. Significantly, the Indian probe achieved a successful lunar landing, in contrast to the Russian probe which experienced a crash upon landing. This serves as an emblem of the varied scientific endeavors pursued by these nations.