United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday reached St Petersburg by a special Russian Presidential aircraft to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin on bilateral relations.
Vice Governor of St Petersburg A V Prokhorenko received her at the airport.
From the airport she drove straight to the Konstantiovsky Palace where she is scheduled to meet President Putin, who will also host a lunch in her honour.
Sonia, who is on a four-day visit of Russia at the invitation of President Putin as his personal guest, will meet him on Wednesday at his hometown and discuss ways to further enhance Indo-Russian strategic partnership.
Later, she will visit the Imperial Palace Petershoff near St Petersburg.
External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal accompany her.
She has already visited cultural sites in Moscow visiting the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Kremlin Armoury and Diamond Fund which houses the diamond 'Bloody Shah,' the war booty which Persia's Nadir Shah took after his invasion of Delhi in the 18th century.
This is Gandhi's fourth Russia visit and first after becoming UPA chairperson.
Earlier, she had visited Soviet Russia with her husband late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.