Modi Pays Tributes To World War II Victims At Piskarevskoe, Russia:- The floral tributes to the victims of the World War II have been paid by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, at the historic Piskarevskoe Memorial Cemetery in St Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia.

Modi drove to the monument on the north-eastern outskirts of the city, ahead of the summit level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, today. The monument holds the graves of around five lakh who died during the Siege of Leningrad.

At the cemetery, the PM placed flowers and then stood in silence for few minutes. The largest cemetery of the victims of the World War II, is known to be The Piskarevskoe Memorial Cemetery. The 420,000 residents of the city, who died of starvation, bombing, shelling, and 70,000 soldiers the defenders of Leningrad, the old name of St Petersburg, lie in the 186 mass graves in the cemetery.

Last evening from Spain, Modi arrived in St Petersburg for the 18th India-Russia Annual Summit. For the first time, the summit is being held outside Moscow for the first time. Modi will participate in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum as a Guest of Honor on Friday.

Modi is likely to discuss two-way trade between India and Russia, which dropped to USD 8 billion in 2015, despite an ambitious target of achieving USD 30 billion by 2030. Conceived by China, Russia is also a participant in the Belt and Road initiative, and has started encouraging close relations with China and Pakistan.

St Petersburg is the former capital of imperial Russia that was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703, and was also known as Petrograd and Leningrad.

SUPRAJA