Centre Clears Indo-Russia Summit Axed Due To COVID; Denounces Cong Jibe

Rejecting Congress’ claims, the Central Government on December 23 said the Indo-Russia annual summit was mutually cancelled due to COVID-19 issues and any other reason was "false and misleading". Earlier, regarding the cancellation of the summit, congress leader Rahul Gandhi had tweeted, “Damaging our traditional relationships is short-sighted and dangerous for our future.” Some reports also linked this cancellation to Russia’s doubt over India's participation in the Quadrilateral coalition with US, Australia and Japan.