Moscow ties: Delhi rolls out red carpet for Putin

NEW Delhi is all set to roll out the red carpet as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives from Moscow on Thursday for a tightly packed two-day state visit laced with high-level diplomacy, economic negotiations and ceremonial grandeur. His first India trip in four years, the visit is designed to inject fresh momentum into the India-Russia partnership at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments.

- JAYANTH JACOB @ New Delhi

Putin lands on Thursday evening and will have a private dinner with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a signal of the political weight both sides are placing on the engagement and their ties.

Formal proceedings begin Friday with a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Putin will pay homage at Rajghat before heading into talks with Modi for the 23rd India-Russia annual summit - an ambitious effort to accelerate an India-EAEU free trade agreement. Both are expected to set a clear timeline for negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Union, which New Delhi hopes will help narrow a widening trade imbalance.