British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will travel to India on Thursday and meet foreign minister S Jaishankar to discuss a “diplomatic push” against Russia’s “illegal” invasion of its neighbour Ukraine.

News of Truss’ visit to India was announced by the British Foreign Office on Wednesday, which released a statement saying, “Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is in India today [Thursday 31 March] as part of a wider diplomatic push following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine last month.”

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“In a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the Foreign Secretary will say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlines the importance of democracies working closer together to deter aggressors, reduce vulnerability to coercion and strengthen global security,” the statement added.

Additionally, Truss will hold talks with Jaishankar to “to counter Russia’s aggression and reduce global strategic dependence on the country ahead of key NATO and G7 meetings next week,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Truss, commenting on the upcoming meeting with Jaishankar, told media outlets, “Deeper ties between Britain and India will boost security in the Indo-Pacific and globally, and create jobs and opportunities in both countries.”

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“This matters even more in the context of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and underlines the need for free democracies to work closer together in areas like defense, trade and cyber security. India is an economic and tech powerhouse, the world’s largest democracy and a great friend of Britain, and I want to build an even closer relationship between our two nations,” the 46-year-old said ahead of Thursday’s meeting.

The talks between the two foreign ministers, however, is unlikely to result in a change in India’s stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine: while India has abstained from voting for UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions calling for an immediate to the Russian invasion, New Delhi is also reportedly considering an alternative system to SWIFT for payments in rubles for the purchase of oil and weapons from Russia.