NEW DELHI, May 5: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha will hold talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Moscow next week, their first face-to-face meeting since the current peace moves between India and Pakistan.

Mr Sinha is due in Russia on May 14.

Russia is one of the sponsors of the G-8 move to put India- Pakistan ties under scrutiny at the group’s summit in France next month.

The Sinha-Powell meeting will take place soon after the visit to India and Pakistan by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Mr Powell and Mr Sinha have spoken to each other twice since Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced his peace initiative with Pakistan.

Mr Sinha is expected to have wide-ranging discussions with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov.