India's Defense Minister cancels Moscow trip for Victory Day parade
Photo: India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh (x.com/rajnathsingh)
India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh became the first foreign high-ranking official to reconsider attending the parade in Moscow for Victory Day on May 9, informs India Today.
Singh decided not to go to Moscow for the May 9 parade after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi also canceled his planned visit to Russia. According to Indian media, the change in plans is related to the tense situation in relations with Pakistan.
However, the media notes that India aims to maintain the importance of Indo-Russian ties. Therefore, the country will send State Minister of Defense Sanjay Seth to the parade. Seth is Singh's deputy.
The parade in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to hold a military parade in Moscow on May 9 to commemorate Victory Day. The Kremlin expects various friendly world leaders to attend the event, including Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Ahead of the event, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who had also promised to attend the parade in Moscow, suddenly fell ill and urgently returned from the US to Belgrade for hospitalization. It is currently unknown how long Vučić will be hospitalized, but his trip to Moscow is now in question.
For the parade, Putin even declared a ceasefire, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a "theater performance," offering a 30-day ceasefire instead.
Russian officials responded to this rejection with hysteria and threats, stating that "May 10 will not come for Kyiv" if there are provocations during Putin's parade.
