Lifestyle Trend: Visa-free travel to Russia? Moscow-New Delhi talks could open doors for tourists You Should Know

New Delhi/Moscow: India and Russia are taking steps to strengthen tourism and trade ties, with both countries working toward a visa-free system for group tourists.

The initiative is aimed at fostering closer people-to-people connections. Discussions are also ongoing for the mutual recognition of India’s RuPay and Russia’s Mir payment systems, both slated for discussion at the upcoming annual India-Russia summit in Delhi.

India and Russia are actively negotiating the framework for allowing tourists to visit each other’s countries in groups without visas, a move expected to deepen cultural and economic engagement.

Russia is optimistic about resolving technical details in upcoming talks with India. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the media in Moscow that the discussions would precede next week’s bilateral summit in Delhi.

“We really hope that we will receive a positive decision from the Indian side in the very near future and will begin to coordinate the agreement itself,” said Nikita Kondratiev, director at the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, speaking to the Russian daily Izvestia. “Among other things, we will work out the procedure for forming groups, the number of people in such groups, as well as the mechanisms of border crossing and interaction between tour operators.”

Alongside tourism, India and Russia are intensifying talks on the mutual recognition of their national payment systems, RuPay and Mir, which could further boost bilateral trade and travel.

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