Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions over the phone Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on regional and global issues of mutual concern.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that Modi and Putin “reviewed progress on number of issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.” During the talks, Putin told Modi that he cannot attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10 and informed that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Russia in the event. The Indian Premier thanked the Russian President for the consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 Presidency.

Source: Kuwait News Agency