New Delhi, February 01: In his first official interaction with a foreign dignitary after being appointed as National Security Adviser, Shivshankar Menon will meet his Russian counterpart Nikolay Patrushev who will arrive in New Delhi on Monday to discuss bilateral issues and regional situation.
Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, will be in New Delhi on a two-day working visit as part of regular consultations.
Discussions between Menon and Patrushev will focus on cooperation between India and Russia in the field of security, bilaterally as well as in the international formats.
The two sides are expected to discuss collaborative ways to fight international terrorism, involving intelligence sharing and other forms of cooperation.
They will also take stock of the situation in the region, particularly in the context of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This will be the first official interaction of Menon with a foreign dignitary since he was appointed the NSA on 22nd January, succeeding M K Narayanan.
The fact that Patrushev will be the first head of foreign security council with whom Menon will hold talks is a clear evidence of the importance which India attaches to these talks, the Russian Embassy said in a statement.
Regular meetings at this level have become one of the important components of high-level confidential contacts between Russia and India over the last years, it said.
—Agencies