Officials from India and Russia are expected to meet in June to lay the foundation for a potential visa-free tourist exchange that can boost the tourism between the two countries.

Russia and India are set to conduct their first discussion on initiating a visa-free group tourist exchange in June, with plans to sign a bilateral agreement by the end of this year, Nikita Kondratyev, director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects at Russia's Ministry of Economic Development, told Sputnik.

During the ongoing Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum 2024 in the Russian city of Kazan, Kondratyev announced that progress has been made in the realm of group visa-free trips and that the Indian delegations are in the final stages of internal state coordination, and will soon discuss a draft agreement.

"I think that in June we will hold the first consultations with them to discuss the draft agreement. We plan to sign by the end of the year", Kondratyev told the Russian  news agency.

Russia launched visa-free group tourist exchanges with China and Iran from August 1, 2023.