Russian President Putin set to visit India in early December
New Delhi (PTI): Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India around December 5 to hold annual summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that are expected to produce significant outcomes to further solidify bilateral strategic ties, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
While preparations are underway for the high-profile visit, it is not yet clear whether the Russian president will come for a day-long trip or if he will be in India for two days.
Ahead of Putin's trip, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to India next month to finalise the finer details of the presidential visit.
The Russian president had last visited New Delhi in 2021.
The two sides are also expected to hold a meeting under the framework of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) before Putin's trip, the people cited above said.
At the India-Russia annual summit, Modi and Putin are expected to deliberate on further expanding the "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership" between the two countries. There is no official word yet on dates for Putin's trip.
The focus of the talks could be to deepen cooperation in areas of defence and security, trade and energy, said one of the people cited above.
India and Russia have a mechanism under which India's prime minister and the Russian president hold a summit meeting annually to review the entire gamut of ties. So far, 22 annual summit meetings have taken place alternatively in India and Russia.
In July last year, PM Modi travelled to Moscow for the annual summit. Russia has been a time-tested partner for India, and the country has been a key pillar of New Delhi's foreign policy.
It is learnt that India may also look to procure additional batches of S-400 air defence missile systems from Russia after the weapons played a significant role during Operation Sindoor.
In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.
Russia already supplied three of the five S-400 regiments India ordered, with the remaining two expected to be delivered in 2026. The delivery schedule was delayed due to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine.
A month back, Prime Minister Modi and President Putin held talks on the margins of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin.
In the talks, the two sides vowed to strengthen their strategic ties. The Modi-Putin meeting took place days after the US doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duty for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
In his televised opening remarks at the meeting, Modi told the Russian president that 140 crore Indians are eagerly waiting to welcome him in India in December.
"This is a reflection of the depth and scope of our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. India and Russia have always stood shoulder-to-shoulder even in the most difficult situations," he had said.
The prime minister said that close cooperation between the two countries is important not only for the people of both countries but also for global peace, stability and prosperity.
In their upcoming summit talks, the two leaders are also expected to deliberate on the Ukraine conflict.
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Former South Korean President Yoon receives life sentence for imposing martial law
Seoul (AP): Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.
Judge Jee Kui-youn said he found Yoon guilty of rebellion for mobilizing military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led National Assembly, arrest politicians and establish unchecked power for a “considerable” time.
Yoon is likely to appeal the verdict.
A special prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for Yoon, saying his actions posed a threat to the country's democracy and deserved the most serious punishment available, but most analysts expect a life sentence since the poorly-planned power grab did not result in casualties.
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South Korea has not executed a death row inmate since 1997, in what is widely seen as a de facto moratorium on capital punishment amid calls for its abolition.
As Yoon arrived in court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon supporters rallied outside a judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past. Yoon's critics gathered nearby, demanding the death penalty.
The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon's martial law decree, including ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilizing the military.
Yoon, a staunch conservative, has defended his martial law decree as necessary to stop liberals, whom he described as “anti-state” forces, from obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority.
The decree lasted about six hours before being lifted after a quorum of lawmakers managed to break through a military blockade and unanimously voted to lift the measure.
Yoon was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He has been under arrest since last July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.
Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.
The Seoul Central Court has also convicted two of Yoon's Cabinet members in other cases. That includes Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for attempting to legitimize the decree by forcing it through a Cabinet Council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath. Han has appealed the verdict.
