St. Petersburg, May 30: On the Russia-leg of his 3-nation tour beginning today, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is scheduled to hold informal summits with Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Russian President Vladimir Putin's Hometown St. Petersburg. A bilateral informal summit with Putin is also being scheduled to exchange notes on Indo-Russian relations and key issues like Iraq, Afghanistan and anti-terror combat. Vajpayee is among the 41 world leaders specially invited by Putin to attend the 2-day gala celebrations of the 300th anniversary of Russia's former imperial capital St. Petersburg - mostly known as Petrograd and Leningrad in the 20th century. The Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive at 1700 hours local time (18.30 IST). Along with other leaders he would be accorded an official welcome by President Putin at the "bronze rider" monument of Peter-the-great, who founded the city of St Petersburg on May 27, 1703, as Russia's "window opening in Europe".

After receiving blessings of the patriarch of Russian orthodox church, the 40 heads of states and governments would see a concert at world famous Mariinsky theatre (Kirov ballet of Soviet times) before a dinner on board Europe's most luxurious liner 'Silver Whisper', specially chartered to accommodate the leaders.

Bureau Report